Dune: Movie Review

From a box office standpoint it would appear that Dune has become quite successful, but how it’s tracking with fans thus far is how it’s bound to be remembered. So far, from watching the movie, a sequel is obviously needed and it’s possible that a trilogy will occur given what people know of the story. It’s even possible, perhaps, that the story will continue after Paul Atreides has reached his fated position as leader of his house and the Fremen. But as of now, having watched the movie already, there is a LOT of exposition that a lot of people might have been expecting, and a few decent action scenes that aren’t easy to look away from. But overall, Dune has come off as a lot of people probably expected it, as an upgraded version of a story that has been notoriously difficult to complete, either because the directors taking charge are trying to do too much, or because they’re attempting to bring their vision of the story to life without really taking into account what the story needs to take off in a big way. 

Granted, this movie wasn’t half bad, and the acting was definitely tolerable given that there was a very impressive cast that was put together for this movie. But as it was in the last two versions, something still felt off, as though capturing certain elements of the story tends to mean that other elements have to be left behind. It’s frustrating really when anyone says that Dune simply can’t be filmed in its entirety since to a writer that’s kind of like giving up. But it’s understandable at least since in the writing of a story it becomes possible to give just enough description and direction that allows a reader to fill in the blanks with their own imagination if need be. In a movie, what needs to happen is that the audience needs to be able to see what it is that they’re supposed to pay attention to. 

The sad part of Dune is that there’s so much to take in that people still end up missing quite a bit, and it feels as though the director might have attempted to do everything possible, but had to pare down the scenes that were bound to be the most crucial in order to keep it from becoming an even longer movie than it was. Fans have been mostly positive toward the movie thus far, and while everyone has their own idea about this story and what it’s all about, it would appear that this current vision is what a lot of folks were looking for. From the beginning to the end of the movie, Paul is the main character without any doubt, but everyone plays their parts to the greatest extent as it does bring to mind a vision of reading the book and being impressed once again with the imagery that’s used and the world-building that’s going on in the story as each location is shown in such great detail. Perhaps one of the only things that anyone could say against this movie at the moment is that it is a slow starter and it doesn’t pick up the pace that much even as the action scenes begin to unfold. 

The choreography for each fight scene is intense and interesting to watch, but in a big way, the movie feels more prophetic and political than anything else, which is to be expected given the nature of the story and the fact that political games are a big part of the foundation that made Dune possible in the first place. At this point, it might be wiser to state that it’s easy to remain neutral when describing this movie since it still feels as though it’s lacking something, but at the same time that lack doesn’t appear to hinder the story. By the time the credits start to roll one can’t help but feel that they’ve been given plenty of information to move forward with, even if leaves them wanting more. The desire to see and learn everything about Dune is definitely bound to hit everyone in a different way, but the fact that it’s bound to affect everyone that watches is an interesting quality of the movie since it wasn’t fully expected, but it’s very easy to fall into. 

Now that the groundwork for this movie has been established by setting the Harkonnen’s against the Atreides, which nearly wiped out the great house, it stands to reason that in another year or two we’ll be seeing the continuation of this story since given the visions that Paul has had it would seriously piss off the fans if they didn’t see the tale continue. How long it will take is kind of hard to say, but one can bet that since this movie is turning out so well that we’ll eventually get to see the story of Dune continue, hopefully, for years to come.