Sci-Fi Movie ‘Dune’(2021) Review
Foto: Warner Bros
The movie Dune was directed by Denis Villeneuve and starred such a-list actors as Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya Coleman and Oscar Issac. The movie takes place in the year 10,191 on the planet Arrakis, which holds an organic material called Spice. This Spice is what makes intergalactic space travel possible and is the most sought-after material in the galaxy. The primary premise of the movie has the plot following House Atreides, who are called upon to go after the spice. When House Atreides lands on the sandy exterior of Arrakis, things slowly start to get out of hand, sending the various characters on a journey that becomes much bigger than collecting Spice.
Dune is a movie that, at first glance, is breathtaking to look at. Director Denis Villeneuve’s take at the classic novel’s in-text imagery creates this scale of awe, with shots of the vast Arrakis desert, or a bird’s eye view shot of massive cities. What these shots of massive settings does for the film is give the film itself a sense of this grand scale. Not just on a physical standpoint, but the idea that what is going to happen is going to have a large impact on the character’s lives as well.
What this movie does well is create a sense of tension that develops into an amazing payoff throughout the film. With this movie having a runtime of over two and a half hours, it does have to give a lot of backstory and information to fully get the viewer immersed into the world. The pacing in certain parts of the film may be a bit slow, but I feel that it was necessary to take things slower in order to get a grasp on the plot of this film. When everything is set is finally set up, the film starts to flow and becomes very engaging.
One thing about this movie’s plot is that as a stand-alone film, it may not have been the cleanest ending plot-wise. If not for the recent announcement that a sequel is in the works in the future, the movie would have felt rushed. Luckily, the sequel will hopefully tie up any loose ends that was left in the original. If anything, this film sets up for the sequel quite nicely and left me excited for its future release.
The acting and star power in Dune was an absolute treat. The cast was filled with many actors that spanned many different backgrounds and ages. For one, you had Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac who played the role as Leto Atreides, the father of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). There are also other heavy hitters in this cast such as Javier Bardem, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin and Stellan Skarsgard just to name a few.
Dune is a film that tries to capture the feel of the original film and its original source material, its books. What the writers and directors of Dune (2021) have done is make something of their own and surpassing its movie counterpart from the 1970’s. Once the sequel for Dune comes out soon, I am certain that this franchise will go down as a pillar of modern science fiction classics.
