Dune (2021)
At long last, the much anticipated scifi epic Dune (2021) has arrived. And it is excellent. To begin, let's address one of the elephants in the room. Yes. The movie is unfinished in terms of telling the story as it is only the first half (as stated numerous times in press releases and other announcements along with the subtitle on the opening credits being Part One). As someone who has watched the Director's Cut of the David Lynch Dune, the book being split into two movies is a VERY good thing. Frank Herbert's Dune is very dense and richly detailed (from reports received by my brother who has read the book as I have not but, more on that later) which presents problems when adapting to a film. There is a general hesitation in filmmakers (and mostly studios/theatre owners) to produce a movie over two hours as it limits the amount of screenings in a day. Unfortunately, Dune cannot be told well in two hours. The smart decision was to split the story in two parts which would allow for the fullest development of the story without having to speed run important aspects. Now, onto the movie.
In all fairness, I did see the movie in IMAX which may color my opinions a bit but, Dune is a beautiful movie. The sweeping landscape of Arrakis is magnificent and IMAX does serve to show off the larger sets and locations with appropriate grandeur. There is a sense of scale that is missing from the Lynch version but, I'll chalk that up to it being the Eighties and budget/technological limitations. There is stark and dramatic difference between the several planets visited throughout the film.
Some of the funniest parts were not because of anything overtly comedic occurring but, because I am easily amused over certain things. When the Emperor's herald/messenger arrives on Caladan (homeworld of the Atreides), we discover the one instrument to survive thousands of years and the advent of interstellar travel to be............... the bagpipes. I never thought I would love futuristic bagpipes but, Hans Zimmer has proven me wrong. The entire score is expertly chosen and fits so well you wouldn't think it was music but, a part of the story itself. The other funny moment was when Paul is trying to say something to Chani but, couldn't come up with anything that didn't make him sound like a raving lunatic.
Onto the other elephant in the room, I have not read the book nor do I really plan to. First, the book never really interested me. While the movies (only the Lynch version was available when I watched it for the first time) do interest me immensely, I do not want to spend the time and effort into reading the book which I may find dull. This has happened in the past when reading popular works of literature for me. Also, I would like to see the second part of the new film version before even considering reading the book so I can judge the film more objectively.
In all, I did thoroughly enjoy the film and cannot wait for Part Two.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
The spice must flow.
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