‘Dune’ Review: An Immersive Sci-Fi Adventure That Captivates the Senses

Dune is an incredibly heavy sci-fi novel that is flooded with expansive worlds and complicated terminology to pick up on. It takes a while to get into, but once you understand the world, it’s a great read with intriguing space politics and unique, detailed visuals. It does seem difficult to adapt Dune into a movie. Thankfully, director Denis Villeneuve steps up to the plate and delivers in spades.

Dune tells the story of Paul, the son and heir of the House Atreides. The House Atreides is moved to a new planet where they will control the harvesting and shipping of spice, the most valuable and powerful material in the universe. However, houses clash in a political world where “he who controls the spice controls the universe.”

Dune is an absolute spectacle

Villeneuve’s past sci-fi films, Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival, had beautiful, massive visuals and Dune is no different. The scope is immense as Villeneuve creates images that are larger than life and fully bring the audience into this world. The visual aesthetic does a great job at capturing what these worlds would look like based on how the novel describes them. The visual effects blend into the practical environments perfectly. This is a credit not only to Villeneuve’s direction but also the great cinematography from Greig Fraser. It truly feels like a separate world caught on film and it’s incredibly impressive to watch. 

While the action is exciting, the one visual aspect that’s a little odd is the fights. It is PG-13 so the fights are bloodless and it takes away the brutality of it. There is a cool effect involving the use of shields, but I do wish there was a bit more weight to the hand-to-hand fights. 

The movie is a slow burn but it never feels boring. There is a lot of information to digest, especially for non-book readers but Villeneuve delivers it fairly well. Some of the terminology is never fully explained but it’s easy to pick up on. Since this is a part one, not all of the story is told so many questions are still left unanswered. This does invite some risk, however, if part 2 delivers, then it will all come full circle. 

The story is still paced well especially considering it’s 2 and a half hours. However, the lengthy runtime allows the narrative to not feel condensed and gives each detail plenty of time to breathe.

A star-studded cast that enhances the narrative

The cast is all wonderful as well with everyone delivering stellar performances. It is star-studded so not every character gets a ton of time to shine but Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson are the too main standouts. Ferguson delivers the most emotion as Lady Jessica who is desperately trying to protect her son. Another standout is Jason Momoa who delivers plenty of charisma but also brings a more stoic approach that we haven’t seen from him yet.

There are many characters who I’m excited to see more from including Dave Bautista and Stellen Skarsgard who both play villains. Those who wanted to see Zendaya will be disappointed as she’s only in it briefly but her character will certainly have more to do in the future. 

The overload of characters to follow is one of the few flaws here. Some don’t get a lot of development which makes them hard to be invested in. Some vanish and reappear later and I honestly forgot they were in it. It’s not too distracting but there are a few characters who get shoved to the side undeservedly.

Still, Dune is a complete visual masterpiece with sprawling desert landscapes, beautiful set pieces, and appealing sequences. The story is well told and manages to not feel condensed or overwhelming, despite the massive amount of lore and the large number of characters. Villeneuve manages to create an amazing sci-fi universe that is also accompanied by Hans Zimmer’s booming, epic score. Find the biggest TV you have and enjoy. 

Final Score: 4.5/5