Brief Story Line
Set in the very distant future, the planet of Arrakis also known as Dune was the source of the much required substance called spice. Dune had been under the occupation of House of Harkonnen for centuries. but the Imperial kingdom just appointed the humans tribe House of Artreides to take over the harvesting. The decision was not well received by one of its leader Rabban (Dave Bautista - Final Score, Army of the Dead etc) who was also the nephew of Baron of Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård - The Girl in the Spider's Web etc).
Artreides leader Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac - The Addams Family animated version etc) with his concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson - Reminiscence, The Girl on the Train etc) and his son Paul (Timothée Chalamet - Little Women, Lady Bird etc) had to follow the imperial decree and went to Dune. They were accompanied by their trusted people including weapon master Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin - Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Avengers: End Game etc) and the sword master Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa - Sweet Girl, Game of Thrones TV series etc). However, things became complicated as their harvesting target was too difficult to achieve. Not to mention Dune's original tribe called the Fremen was not supportive and the dangerous sand worms that always target the harvester. In addition, Paul was having dreams of the very dark future that involve a young mysterious Fremen girl (Zendaya - The Greatest Showman, Spider-man: Far From Home etc) which confused and worried him.
So what would happen to Paul and the House of Artreides in Dune? Find them all in the first half of the story.
End of Brief Story Line
When my wife and I saw the title shown in the beginning of the movie, we both noticed the word "Part One" which hinted at possibly having a direct sequel or the movie was divided into more than one parts but concluded in the same film. As we finished watching it, apparently it did not have a proper ending. After reading more on the movie, I found out that the director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Prisoners etc) decided one movie would not be enough to cover the complexities of the novel.
Yes apparently the film was adapted from 1965 novel of the same title written by Frank Herbert which has won numerous awards. To be honest, I was not aware of this fact. I had played computer game of Dune many many years back and as I watched the film, I came to remember the gameplay which involved choosing playing as House of Artreides or Harkonnen and tried to harvest spice while building structures. These facts made me thought the film was based on the game, and I thought it should have been more like an adventure or war movie. So during the film, I kept on thinking is it really necessary to have such complex characters development? I would have preferred for lesser and more of the actions.
More than the first half of the movie focused a lot on Paul's story, his dreams, the many characters introduction and also the political intrigue between house of Artreides, Harkonnen and Fremen. Despite showing the beautifully created world of Dune and showing stunning visual effects with gorgeous cinematography, I could not help feeling it might have been more entertaining for casual viewers with more actions. I can understand and totally sympathize my wife who was feeling bored and sleepy during the early part as it moved in slow pace. And personally I thought it might be better of having shortened story telling or a bit of action here and there in the beginning to make it more interesting. But again after finding out the director's intention of honoring the story as per the novel, I could not really blame him.
The special effects were nothing short of spectacular. The harvesting scene, the sand worm, the thopters and the vast desert looked really amazing and quite exactly what I had in mind after recalling the game features. The fight scenes were awesome and my favorite was definitely the one involving Jason Momoa. In fact his character Duncan was the only one that provided a bit of humor and light in an otherwise full of seriousness. Talking about the cast, I felt Timothée Chalamet was perfect as the brooding future Artreides leader, while Oscar Isaac was great as the Duke and Rebecca Ferguson was equally fine. In addition to the names I mentioned above, there were also the appearances of Javier Bardem (Mother! etc) as a Fremen's leader Stilgar, Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Bad Girls TV series etc) as Dr. Liet-kynes, Chang Chen (The Soul TV series etc) as Dr. Yueh and few others. They were all important to the story development.
Overall this movie I thought had a strong Star Wars feel, but with lesser excitement due to the very serious nature and dark feel. The introduction of the complex characters were done in very detailed manner. Not until we reached more than the first half that something big really happened and from that moment onwards, the story picked up the pace & became exciting. I do like the absolutely wonderful visual effects plus the background music done by the experienced Hans Zimmer (Dunkirk, Inception and many more) enhanced by the amazing sound effect (even if it's not in Dolby Atmos). And I also like some of the action sequence which felt suspenseful and intense. The ending was not something that I had any complaints, particularly because the title already hinted that much. It has a long duration of 155 minutes including closing credits (which did not have any mid or post end credit scene).
So if you are interested in having a grand cinematic experience with beautiful cinematography & music, plus some excitements especially in the second half and you are fans of the novel, then I am sure you would like it as many critics viewed this as an amazing adaptation. But if you are not really in the mood for a new space adventure in the dystopian future, having lots of characters development for more than half of the film, then you might be bored and cannot enjoy it, especially if you know you still need to see the sequels for the conclusion. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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