Let’s get this out the way first. If you’re a fan of Frank Herbert’s massively influential 1965 novel, you should love Denis Villeneuve’s big screen adaptation of the science fiction epic. The movie is incredibly faithful. Arguably too faithful, in fact, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Even if you aren’t familiar with the six-book series, you should find Dune accessible. As one example, Game of Thrones has attuned contemporary audiences to tangled aristocratic rivalries played out with bloated casts, and Dune’s power struggles are far simpler to comprehend by comparison.

To sum up the plot of Dune, in the far flung future, humanity is dispersed across space, and falls under the Galactic Padishah Empire. Increasingly anxious about the influence of respected noble house Atreides, of the ocean planet Caladan, the Emperor commands Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) to assume rulership over the desert planet Arrakis, where Spice, the most precious resource in the universe, is mined. Putting Atreides in charge usurps Arrakis’s former governors, brutal House Harkonnen, headed by the bloated, scheming Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård).

Conscious that a powder keg has been ignited, and the Harkonnens are planning revenge, Leto must move fast. That means securing his family’s position by winning over the Fremen, Arrakis’s ferocious desert-dwelling population – some of whom have developed a fixation on Leto’s heir Paul (Timothée Chalamet) as their prophesised saviour. Their reverence extends to Paul’s mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), a member of the Bene Gesserits, a powerful, pseudo-religious order of women who also have their eye on Paul’s potential.

Phew. That’s a beast of synopsis but it does outline every important player and faction in Dune. And, for the record, this 2 hour 35 minute film is only a “Part 1,” with credits rolling at what is about the halfway point of Herbert’s 450+ page novel.

The new movie Dune does feel its length at times, particularly in its final third act, where characters are continually on the run. By then you want to just get on with things instead of pausing for a scene that’s evidently been included to drop one fact about Arrakis’s ecology, or yet another trippy vision sequence.

As already mentioned, Dune fans should be happy, though. Villeneuve’s adaptation is incredibly respectful of the source material, for both better and worse. Among the “worse” is the movie’s length; a dialogue-muffling sound mix that goes so far as to ruin the iconic Litany Against Fear mantra (come back, 1984 Dune voice-over, all is forgiven!); and the fact that the film places greater emphasis, for the most part, on meticulously ticking off plot points instead of fleshing out characters.

Fortunately, Dune has a charismatic all-star cast across the board, and the actors are good enough to win over the audience even if their roles are sketched. Standouts include Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin as two of Paul’s warrior mentors – one warm, one gruff – and Skarsgård, who is repulsive while never going over the top.

Dune is Paul Atreides’ story though. It’s about his apparent Chosen One destiny and accompanying doubts, so it really falls to Chalamet to do most of the film’s emotional heavy lifting. Pale and perpetually strained looking, Chalamet is fine in conveying the psychological weight of Paul’s responsibilities and the expectations placed upon him.

Paul’s parents are more interesting though, with Isaac’s principled Leto a “chin up, chest forward” figure in public, but honest about his fears in private. Meanwhile, Ferguson’s Jessica finds that difficult balance between tender domestic concern, and devastating effective Bene Gesserit power. Jessica’s order is about playing the long game, manipulating from the back seat, so her hands-off behaviour is believable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still wish she would step into the spotlight, and get stuff done more often.

Dune has had a massive cultural impact on everything from Star Wars and Warhammer 40K to The Wheel of Time. So Villeneuve’s adaptation is full of pleasures that go beyond the obvious visual. Particularly notable is the Emperor’s elite fighting force, the Sardaukar, which have a pitch perfect, Viking-esque depiction for fanatical space marines.

From the sets to the costuming, Dune is a sumptuous, if sand-blasted, affair. The movie is being touted as a reason to return to the cinema, and for once the marketing claims are on the money. Dune will be best appreciated on the big screen, with IMAX 3D the pinnacle way to experience this blockbuster.

One final question worth considering, for movie buffs anyway, is whether Dune is Denis Villeneuve’s best movie? The celebrated filmmaker has already produced two standout 21st century science fiction movies in the form of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. Arrival leaned hard in a cerebral arthouse direction. Blade Runner was full of surprises. Dune… is the most conventional of these three, sticking solidly to expectation.

That said, while Dune isn’t ground-breaking, it’s incredibly impressive. Villeneuve has taken “unfilmable” source material and made it digestible without losing its galactic sense of scale, or the distinct nature of Herbert’s universe. It would be heart-breaking if Warner Bros. didn’t greenlight a Dune: Part 2.


Dune review

It’s immensely striking visual style is reason enough to return to the cinema to watch Dune on as big a screen as possible. But, apart for some length and sound gripes, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, with his cast and crew, have also done an impressive job adapting a hefty sci-fi epic so it’s comprehensible for fans and franchise newcomers alike.

 8
Dune was reviewed on the big screen

Reminder that South African residents have until midnight on Friday, October 22 – Dune’s release date – to enter our Dune merchandise giveaway.