"Dune Part 1" Movie Review, an epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth. Dune it is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. The ensemble cast includes Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, Zendaya as Chani, David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries, Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet-Kynes, Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar.
Dune Part 1 Movie review 2021
Visually impressive, but rather unnecessary remake...
Sure, I was looking forward to getting to watch director Denis Villeneuve's take on Frank Herbert's iconic story "Dune". And yeah, I did also enjoy the 1984 version of the tale, so of course this 2021 version was something that had to be watched.
And yes, I did enjoy the 2021 rendering of "Dune", of course I did. I mean, how could I not? Despite of running for a bit more than two and a half hours, the movie was entertaining and enjoyable. And this was just the first part of the story, so we are in for more.
Visually then "Dune" was just spectacular, having pretty amazing special effects that brought the world of Arrakis to life on the screen. And if you enjoy CGI effects and great special effects, then "Dune" doesn't disappoint.
In terms of casted performers, then the majority of the cast were actually nicely cast for the various roles and characters. Now, I am not familiar with Timothée Chalamet (playing Paul Atreides), but he was no Kyle MacLachlan (playing the same character in the 1984 movie). This 2021 version of "Dune" also have the likes of Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin and Stellan Skarsgård on the cast list. I was really impressed with Stellan Skarsgård in the movie.
And while "Dune" is watchable and entertaining, I must admit that I was left with a sense of 'was this really a necessary remake?' once the movie ended. And then my thoughts went on to "will it be remade again in 40 years, with whatever technology is available then?'. So there was that whole whether this remake was a necessary thing or not looming over it.
And I also feel that the character gallery was a bit underdeveloped, as I felt most of the characters were only given superficial characteristics and personalities, never letting the audience really get to know the characters backgrounds, motivations and such. It just felt a bit too shallow in terms of character development and growth.
If you have the chance to watch "Dune", then do so. By all means do so, because it is an entertaining movie.
My rating of "Dune" lands on a six out of ten stars, like the 1984 movie. Sure, this 2021 movie was more pleasing to look at, but of course almost 40 years have done lots to the development of CGI in the movie business. But the 2021 version is held back by an inferior character gallery and that overwhelming sense of this being essentially just a massive waste of money and effort in terms of remaking something that didn't really need to be remade.
Review by paul_haakonsen
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