Review: Dune (Movie)

2022-07-24

My partner told me this movie was too long and slow for their taste. I loved it; for the most part, it was pondorous, monolithic, and dripping with atmosphere, letting the gorgeous set-pieces, sound design and soundtrack, costume design, and special effects take front stage. I thoroughly enjoyed the world Frank Herbert built and Denis Villeneuve and his team brought to life. The sci-fi elements are a beautiful blend of furutism, industrialism, and straight-up witchcraft. It never veered into sci-fi mumbo jumbo (looking at you Hyperion), and kept all explored concepts very accessible.

The style of the film is top notch, and 95% of the character interactions were great. The last stretch with the Fremen was a little underwhelming; it lacked the magnificent set-pieces and atmosphere the rest of the film had, effectively reverting to a generic action movie. Otherwise, I had a great time, and the books are definitely on my to-read list now.

4/5