DUNE 2021

Of course, Denis Villeneuve is one of the top directors alive today, and of course I was gong to see this. The film makes sure every moment is lushly filmed and filled with visual and audio grandeur. It is quite spectacular filmmaking.

The story halted in the middle, and other films will need to complete it. Unlike the David Lynch version, this movie allowed the characters to take their time. Perhaps too much time, at 2:35 it does seem a bit longish, and yet I wanted more.

This was the one movie to bring me back into theaters after two years, and I didn’t mind getting out to see it. However, the AMC barrage of corporate garbage preceding the film and the deafening sound levels almost ruined it. I ducked out of the previews to save my hearing, and I expected the film not to abuse the ears. But, the theater experience does have its drawbacks, some serious ones too in this time of the great pandemic.

Dune’s acting and casting were top notch, and I appreciated the seriousness with which everyone took this project. Visual effects were stunning, and the parallels to our own age of imperialism cannot go unnoticed. All in all, a must-see experience.

The Dune story does have one minus that may stick out today more than in former times. The hero, Paul, is the “chosen one” of sorts, a trope that has been murdered, drawn and quartered, and then beaten for a few centuries with sticks. But, then again, it all comes down to the writing. Sorry newbies, you’d better up your game if you want to compete with scifi worlds like this.