Dune Review

Okay so here’s the deal…I didn’t see Dune when it was first released. But now the second part is coming out and they re-released the first part in theaters so we went to go see it so I wasn’t incredibly lost. I loved it. Obviously I am going to get into some details here but I think it is one of the best fantasy stories ever written.

Visually I think this is one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. Everyone was flipping out about Avatar and I get it; it was a feat of technology and sure but what Dune was able to accomplish was incredible. Visually depicting an emotional scale is crazy difficult but it was so well done. The only real CGI moment is the shield suit and it looked great.

I will also admit that I never understood the Timothy Chalamet love fest, I really thought he was just the white boy flavor of the month. But after seeing him in this movie I really really get it. He is beyond talented and I think he portrays the whole “chosen one who doesn’t want responsibility” thing really well. The casting for this movie is also insanely good. Jason Momoa plays himself very well, Oscar Issac was GREAT, and Dave Bautista has proven himself to be a really incredible actor. The best of the wrestlers turned actors by far. And of course Zendaya accomplished so much with so little dialogue and screen time.

The pacing was unbelievably good. Now obviously we know that it's a two part movie, but the first part is so complete on its own. There is a cliffhanger and it very clearly sets up what the second movie is going to deal with. However even on its own the first part it's really well articulated. The more magic based aspects of the story are set up really well and we spend a lot more time with the political aspects at the beginning. So we get introduced to the stakes immediately. Then we move to the actual ambush which is clearly the catalyst for the next part of the story. The death of Duke kind of forces Paul to accept that he is going to be a leader of some sort. Then we meet the Fremen where he proves himself and gains their trust, and goes into the desert with them. The structure should literally be studied. It was amazing.

The last thing I really want to highlight is how well the world was set up. Because of the politics, the magic and the setting it could have been really expositional. But a lot was explained in between the dialogue. A device that I loved their use of was the videos that Paul was watching. He learned about the desert and the Fremen with the audience and it felt more grounded and authentic. It was really natural. Also his mom training him in her ways just happened and it didn’t need explanation.

Overall the movie is a definite 10/10. I seriously loved it and I will probably watch it again before the second part comes out. Because it doesn’t come out until March and that feels like a really long time. Obviously this is coming from the perspective of someone who has clearly never read the books (and honestly I have no intention of reading the books, apparently it's a whole series and that feels really unnecessary). But I think on their own these movies are really great. If the second part keeps the same magnitude and craft of the first one I’m sure it's going to be amazing.