Movie Review: Dune: Part One (2021)

Dune: Part One (2021) co-written and directed by Denis Villenueve from the novel by Frank Herbert

In a far distant future, interstellar travel is powered by Spice, a product only found on the desert planet Arrakis. The Emperor (an unseen character) has transferred authority over the planet from House Harkonnen to House Atreides. The Harkonnens have been brutal harvesters, but Arrakis is a brutal planet with extremely difficult natives (the Fremen), creatures (giant sand worms), and storms (the sand blasting will peel a lot more than the paint off your spaceship). The Harkonnens are also crafty and will not go down without putting up some resistance. Political intrigue is only part of the drama. Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) has been preparing for leadership while he has been having strange, prophetic dreams about events on Arrakis. He trains in physical combat and in psychic abilities, since his mother is part of the Bene Gesserit, a group of mystics with powers to see the future and influence the wills of others. When he gets to Arrakis, he faces opposition from the Harkonnens and the Fremen, though he thinks that he has been drawn to the planet as a savior or messiah figure for the Fremen. 

While the overall plot is a science fiction political space opera with a hero's journey for Paul Atreides, the movie manages to be so much more (even though that's already a lot to begin with). The big actions sequences and amazing visuals set up the world of the characters. But the characters are not dwarfed by their epic surroundings. They have a lot more existential, interior, and personal battles as they face their exterior opponents. The movie manages to provide the intimacy of an art house film while also delivering a large-scale future-society drama. The only flaw in the film is its expectation for viewers to keep up with what's going on. If viewers haven't read the book or seen previous versions of the story (the 1984 movie or the TV miniseries) or consulted the internet on what to know before watching, the movie may be hard to follow. A lot of the details (like the combat suits that only let a slow-moving weapon strike, not fast cuts or shots) and political factions are barely explained. Viewers get a sense of the larger milieu that would take an extra hour to show. Brevity is the good when there is so much. The other problem is the cliffhanger ending, which stops at a nice dramatic moment but leaves the viewer waiting for the next movie to find out if Paul will fulfill his fate (if it really is his fate).

I was a little skeptical going into the film because I've had mixed feelings about Villenueve's previous films. The twist at the end of Arrival I found moving but also a little annoying and Bladerunner 2049 followed a little too closely the ambiguity and the inscrutability of the original film. Dune, however, I enjoyed without any complaints and am looking forward to the second film. My only regret is not having seen it in the theater. Maybe when Part Two comes out the cinemas might have some sort of marathon viewing option.

Highly recommended--a great commingling of art house sensibilities with space opera epicness.