Dune (2021)

Denis Villeneuve's Dune might be one of the visually most impressive movies in that genre I have seen so far.

Every shot is masterly arranged and composed, the landscapes breathtaking, and the effect shots of gargantuan spaceships and architecture awe inspiring.

The cast is excellent, but in part underused. Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson stand out, but Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, and Stellan Skarsgård all leave their mark. Dave Bautista and Javier Bardem unfortunately only have very little screentime.

My biggest gripe with the cast was Zendaya's overtly American accent. While all other actors of Fremen characters speak with relatively indistinct "foreign" accents, Zendaya sounds as if the came straight from some Californian beach.

The music is atmospheric and masterful, but too loud. Some crucial dialogue gets droned out - certainly not a problem unique to this movie.

Unfortunately, it shows that Villeneuve struggled with adapting Frank Herbert's novel to a script. Hardly anyone would have expected that the source material, which is extremely dense on world-building details and internal monologue, could be brought to the screen without cutting some fat.

But despite the runtime of two and a half hours and the split of the story in two (planned) parts, the movie sometimes feels rushed, glossing over important aspects and minimising the roles of important characters of the novel. Even worse, Villeneuve seems to rely a couple of times on the viewer's knowledge of the novel to fill in crucial information.

The ending is literally anti-climactic. The split of the story occurs at roughly the half-way point of the novel after a not unimportant, but far less dramatic moment than several coming before. As a result, the movie weirdly peters out, without even something that could be called a cliffhanger.

I do really hope the movie is successful enough to warrant the necessary sequel. As it stands, it would be a shame if the story had to remain unfinished.

Fmovies: Soulless but visually pleasing eye candy. The same problem as with any other modern blockbuster. Lack of emotional connection with the characters. Reminds me a lot of Tenet in that sense.

The most excitement I felt while watching Dune is when I realized Momoa shaved his beard. Every character besides Rebecca Fergsuson's had the emotional range of a potatoe.

This movie is big. It's meant to be on the big screen. The visuals are captivating, the music is mesmerizing and the actors are convincing.

This is an adaptation of the Dune novel from 1965, and it covers about half the book. I have read the novel long ago, but I'm mostly familiar with the Dune universe from the Command & Conquer game Emperor: Battle for Dune. It's a vast universe with politics, religion, tribes and houses. The movie does an excellent job of placing you in this grand setting without over-explaining everything, but also without feeling completely lost. For someone new to the Dune universe you can easily recognize who the "good" and "bad" guys are and follow the plot, without knowing who all the different names refer to. But it's not dumbed down so that those who will recognize the names feel patronized. This is very hard to pull off, but I think this movie did so masterfully.

I would describe it as a mixture between Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. You follow individuals in a grand and complex world. The majority of the movie takes place on a desert planet, so it really needed an amazing soundtrack to elevate the experience - and it has. Hans Zimmer turned down Tenet to work on Dune, and I think he made the right choice.

However, this is only "Part 1", as it says in the beginning of the movie, so you know it won't be a complete story. I was ready to watch Part 2 as soon as it ended, but will have to wait. LOTR The fellowship of the Ring would be an insignificant movie without The two towers and The return of a king to complete the story. Together they are great, individually they are not enough. So it is with Dune - It is a great introduction, but it desperately needs a part 2 to conclude the story. And there better be a Part 2!

Dune fmovies. It's definitely a well-directed film. The music is beautiful and the desert views intended to show us the planet Arrakis are impressive. But unfortunately, there is practically nothing behind the beautiful exterior. Even if Villeneuve filmed only half of the first book, this half was supposed to introduce us to the universe and many main and secondary characters. Unfortunately, the duration of 2.5 hours for the director was only enough to briefly introduce the main characters and slightly describe the situation in the galaxy. Too little time has been given to supporting characters. Some are presented, but not disclosed. Especially disappointed by Liet-Kains, his line was cut to almost zero.

Bottom line.

The universe of Dune is very extensive and it is extremely difficult to film even one book in less than 3-4 films with a similar timing.

It would be better if they made a series. With a budget like Game of Thrones. They would most likely be successful .

A film can only be watched for the sake of a beautiful picture and wonderful music.

5/10.

Sorry for the mistakes. English is not my native language. Used google translate.

A beautiful movie. The actors are all sublime, the score (I can't say music because I'm not sure there is any music but sound effects / atmosphere) sustains quite well the action, however to be honest :

I have not felt anything in this movie, no matter what the director wants to throw at you in terms of SFX, or just nice framing... It just feels dull, the characters feel shallow. Like they don't really exist.

It lacks consistency, drama, tension. I have never been scared for the characters. No matter how desperate the situation should feel, it simply doesn't !

I spent the whole 2h30min feeling "wow it's very nice !" but that's it. Almost any Marvel movie could give me the same kind of emotion and even more actually. Because they are less pretentious. They go straight to the action without pretending they can be anything else.

I haven't read the book, but to be honest if it wasn't for the title I wouldn't even believe there was a book in the first place.

Beautiful and shallow. Which is what, almost any modern day blockbuster, can give you.

"If you loved Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, then Dune is perhaps Denis Villeneuve at his Villeneuviest."

Richard Trenholm, CNET.