Starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, and David Dastmalchian.
Written by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve & Eric Roth.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve.
★★★½
What most people know now is that this is Dune: Part One. This covers about half of Frank Herbert's classic 1965 sci-fi novel, and thanks to its successful opening weekend, we know we'll get Part Two in 2023. I am relieved. This did feel like the first 2 1/2 hours of a 5-hour story.
One of the most impressive aspects of Denis Villenueve's vision is his scope. See this on the big screen. I saw it in IMAX and he uses every inch of the frame. The spaceships, the sandworms, the armies, everything in this film conveys how HUGE these things are. It seeks to put "epic" back in "space epic" and succeeds.
Approximately 8000 years in the future, the galaxy is ruled by an emperor (keep in mind this was written before Star Wars) who rewards contracts to ruling Houses from various planets. The planet Arrakis has a substance known as melange, or "spice", that is a vital ingredient in ftl space navigation. The Emperor Shaddam IV (unseen in this film) has decided to switch the Arrakis mining contract from House Harkonnen to House Atriedes. Naturally Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) isn't going to take this sudden loss of income to Duke Leto Atriedes (Oscar Isaac) lying down. No House wants to openly defy the emperor, but we learn early that the Harkonnens can be ruthless.
The story centers on the Duke's son Paul Atriedes (Timothee Chalamet), who's learning the political machinations he must know as the heir, but also the religious/mystical ways of his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who hopes her son will fulfill a prophecy known to her order for centuries. Chalamet has a nice balance here, as a privileged son trying to keep himself grounded (with help from his warrior-mentors played by Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa) while also apprehensive of his dual destinies, as a Duke, and as a possibly supernatural leader.
I read Frank Herbert's Dune (and National Lampoon's Doon) shortly after David Lynch's Dune came out, so I remember a lot of the basics of the story. (I also tried rewatching Lynch's version last year and made it about 30 minutes in before I stopped. It's bad.) I did have fun mentally comparing casts in my mind. Kyle MacLachlan is now Chalamet, Sean Young is now Zendaya, Patrick Stewart is now Josh Brolin, etc.
Villenueve's movie wants to show not tell, and this movie strikes me as one that will reward with repeat viewings. There is a complicated mythos behind the story; this is obviously a world and society well thought-out. I'm glad the director took his time and had faith enough in his vision that he didn't rush through plot points to get it all in one movie. Not to mention years pass by between where this movie ends and the second half of the novel. And hey, Herbert wrote six Dune novels so this could go as long as producers are willing to finance it. Maybe the next great sci-fi franchise has arrived.
