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Dune: Part One. Finally Herbert's novel is getting a decent shot.

Posted by free.ranger on January 27, 2022 at 21:31:34:
Director Denis Villaneuve and producers must have realized that such an epic tale couldn't be condensed into a single film, tried in 1984 with David Lynch directing. That effort was so condensed that the story was reduced to unfollowable comic action. Lesson learned I think.

This film, part one (of how many?) takes us through the betrayal and slaughter of the House Atreides clan on Planet Arakis by the Harkonnens and the Emperor. The son Paul, Atreides heir-apparent, hooks up with the Fremen folks, getting ready for Part Two. They were careful to not bite off too much here.

This film has the advantage of nearly forty years of movie technology. The effects are terrific; the settings are great, the tools of Herbert's universe are awesome. You will clearly be in a different time and place with this film. Big money spent on this version.

The investment must have warranted big actors to sell it. We have Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, and Javier Bardem as big stompin' warriors. We have Charlotte Rampling as the cult witch (with her face covered all the time; never a beauty queen, age must be working her over).

Then we come to the heroes, the son Paul Atreides, and the lead romantic interest of the Fremen, Chani, not a big player in the story yet. These two are played by Timothee (that's correct) Chalamet, and Zendaya (just). Kind of weak links here. Who? Chalamet is a skinny twig of a dude who looks and sounds like Nicholas Cage's little brother. Zendaya ... I don't know, nothing stands out here. All the big name cast supporters, and these two are the leads? I don't get it.

The best for last -- Paul's mother, is played by Rebecca Ferguson, she the speechless wonder. Everything she says is a mumbled breathless undercurrent. Can't hear or understand a goddam thing she utters. She does it in every film some sucker is stupid enough to cast her in.

Sci-Fi critics have blasted this film for having too many wrong science thingies and concepts, and for not having computers showing as part of Herbert's technology. But he published his book in 1965, so go figure. The plot is a bit thick still, even with the Part One cutoff, a little hard to follow. A lot of emphasis is placed on Paul's visions, which frankly confuse the hell out of me.

But I liked it. It finally hit Comcast pay-per-view at a fair price, so maybe now is the time if you are a Dune fan. If so, then the discontinuities and Ferguson's crap won't bother you much. You're shown a different universe with glorious settings and sharing Herbert's vision. Enjoy the ride.

The sand worms are super creepy.