REVIEW: ‘Dune’ Shines as an Immersive Sci-Fi Cinematic Masterpiece

Dune is simply a masterpiece of cinema. French-Canadian director and Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve brought together an award-winning cast and an incredible list of filmmakers to bring us one of the most spectacular sci-fi films to date. Each scene is rich and immersive with breathtaking cinematography by Greig Fraser, making this a film that defines what a major motion picture truly should be. Villeneuve, along with co-writers John Spaihts and Eric Roth, adapted the original saga meticulously and developed characters you instantly become invested in. 

The overall scale of this film was an incredible undertaking of Frank Herbert’s 1965 bestseller of the same name, and it provided an amazing world-building experience of the first half of the acclaimed novel. Where others have failed, Villeneuve proved a success. Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky abandoned a project he had in development for several years in the ’70s, and David Lynch’s 1984 version was not well received. 

Dune is set thousands of years in the future in which various noble houses control planets, space travel, and the mystical and powerful Spice of the planet Arrakis or Dune. What’s not to love in a story that has nobility, intergalactic power struggle, magical grains, cryptic mind control, and manipulation? I’m all in. 

Dune tackles the deep-rooted politics and powerplay of the Emperor of the Known Universe, who orders the imperial family of House Atreides to accept control of the desert planet of Arrakis as he revokes it from the vicious House Harkonnen. 

Arrakis is the most coveted, as it’s a desert planet with the source of a powerful, life-extending substance called Spice. Spice is a rare, highly valued, mind-expanding natural resource upon which space travel, knowledge, commerce, and human existence all rely upon. There’s a glitch, though. Anyone aspiring to harvest the Spice must survive the planet’s deadly heat, which involves a ‘stillsuit’ that recycles your sweat and, at times, tears, filtering it into purified water as well as battling the hurricane-strength sandstorms and giant sandworms. 

Villeneuve perfectly captures the massiveness of this film. You feel that from the moment you sit in the theater, preferably IMAX, as you are taken to another world instantly with the incredible score by Hans Zimmer. Unfortunately, streaming does this film zero justice.

Denis didn’t solely rely on visual effects to tell this story. There is a warmth to this film that radiates and encompasses you as a viewer. Denis uses sunlight, reflections, and shadows as the cast interact with the real-life sand and dust, making for a more realistic experience to compliment the special effects by Gerd Nefzer. The film was shot on location in Hungary, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, and Norway, with production creating their very own planets. 

The story follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the son of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and the royal heir of House Atreides. We see Paul juggling coming of age as he’s in line to inherit his father’s throne, his increasing power as the son of a Bene Gesserit, and the tragedy that awaits as his family takes control of Arrakis and learns of the persecution of the Fremen people by the Harkonnens. Timothée and Oscar are brilliantly cast as they both are convincing and give depth to not only their individual journeys in the film but the father-son relationship of Paul and Leto. 

My standout favorite in Dune is Rebecca Ferguson, who plays the powerful and multifaceted warrior priestess Lady Jessica. Concubine to Duke Leto Atreides and father to Paul, she plays a character that transcends gender norms. Encompassing the power as a member of the Bene Gesserit, a sect of women who, through mental conditioning, have the super-human ability to manipulate others and influence humanity for their own benefit.

Lady Jessica can control minds with her voice down to a multifaceted and molecular level. She teaches her son the ways of the Bene Gesserit and leads him to a life-threatening test on whether he is truly the ‘Kwisatz Haderach,’ or messiah when confronted alone by Gaius Helen Mohiam, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother played by the incredible Charlotte Rampling.

Ferguson gives us this duality to Lady Jessica playing this warrior and soldier-like figure juxtaposed to her maternal side, fostering her mother-son relationship with Paul. Tough love has a whole new meaning in the spine-cringing black box Bene Gesserit scene. Lady Jessica’s character supersedes gender norms as she evokes power and surpasses traditional characteristics of what a concubine to a Duke used to be. Lady Jessica just ‘is,’ without viewers having to digest stereotypical troupes. 

Designer Donald Mowat was commissioned for makeup, hair, and prosthetics, and Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan for costume design; each created equally outstanding work that came together perfectly in this dark-to-light war of worlds. The various headpieces worn by Ferguson, such as elaborate face chains and airy earth-toned breathable fabrics made for arrival on Arrakis, told a story of a woman on the sidelines who wasn’t the wife of a Duke but still very powerful as part of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.

Other standout pieces include the unique fluid-recycling system ‘stillsuits’ previously mentioned and worn by the Fremen of Arrakis. Baron Harkonnen, played by an unrecognizable Stellan Skarsgård, the film’s dark and sadistic character, had a body created with a vast amount of foam that was challenging for Mowat to work with, as seen in the now well-known black oil bath scene which enveloped his 400-pound body. Harkonnen was draped in vast amounts of airy silk fabrics as he was propelled in the air over his victims, leaving viewers in awe. Reverend Mother wore a powerful full-length, long-sleeved gown with a hat similar to a Greek Orthodox kamilavka headpiece with a heavily beaded veil to cover her face. Despite so many women having veils and face coverings, don’t be fooled; it’s the women that have the power in this film to see the future. 

Additional standout performances include Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, advisor to Duke Leto, who performed incredible stunts directed by Tom Struthers with fight coordinator Roger Yuan, and who really continues to keep himself on the map as not just another handsome and buff face in Hollywood. Momoa keeps delivering with incredible roles showcasing his seasoned talent, mentioning this is the most complex of stunts he has ever done, fighting 19 stunt performers at one time.

Dave Bautista, Momoa’s costar from Apple TV+’s See, joins him in Dune as the tyrant and nephew to Baron as the “Beast,” Rabban Harkonnen. Bautista is equally as menacing as Skarsgård as they rule House Harkonnen with all sorts of evil, tyranny, and brutality. While Zendaya Coleman has a small role in part one of Dune, she appears to take the role seriously as her megawatt celebrity status didn’t overwhelm the screen. She’s intriguing, reserved, and delivers her lines with purpose opposite Chalamet while serving audiences some absolutely breathtaking sun-kissed profiles and visuals on the desert’s horizon. 

Dune is simply exceptional, and the expertise and care behind the source work are obvious. While part one ended abruptly for some with an anti-climactic fight scene between Paul and Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun), a member of the Ferman people challenging his right to stay on Arrakis, I can’t wait for part two to see where the journey unfolds.

Watch the trailer below and check Dune out in theaters and on HBO Max for a limited time before it’s gone.