“Fear is the mind-killer.”
As a person who never watch any of Star Wars movie (well maybe one or two, and I totally forgot what’s it about) and I read somewhere that Dune is basically the story that inspired Star Wars Franchise, I watched Dune in total blindness.
What I had in mind before I watched it, is that Dune will definitely have Denis Villeneuve’s style of directing. And I kinda expect for the story to be confusing and I prepared myself for a tangled mind for at least half of the movie (which 2 hours and 35 minutes in total, so you count it), just like what I felt during Arrival.
But surprisingly (again, for me who is a Dune virgin), the story is easy to follow. There are some made-up words that I can’t understand the meaning of it, but it’s still perfectly fine for me. I can enjoy the movie, and it’s a relief. Because I can totally picture myself going out of the theater feeling so confused about what I just watched, but I didn’t feel any of it.
But I can feel you regretting clicking this post expecting a decent review but I really just blabbing about myself.
So, let’s get into it for real.
Dune. Ah, where to begin…
In the future (I forgot what year it takes place), in a galaxy far far away (is it? or is it not? I don’t know).
ANYWAY.
Long story short, Duke Leto Atreides accepts the stewardship of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, the only source of the most valuable substance in the universe, “melange” (known as “spice”), a drug that extends human life, provides superhuman levels of thought, and makes faster-than-light travel practical. Though Leto knows the opportunity is an intricate trap set by his enemies, he takes his Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Jessica, young son and heir Paul, and most trusted advisors to Arrakis. Leto takes control of the spice mining operation, which is made perilous by the presence of giant sandworms. A bitter betrayal leads Paul and Jessica to the Fremen, natives of Arrakis who live in the deep desert.
Yes, I copied that from Wikipedia. I’m sorry. Moving on.
By the way that’s a very good summary. That pretty much sums up the movie plot. Amazing. How did they do that?
Okay, back to this post.
From what I experienced watching Denis Villeneuve’s work, is the movie will have an incredible visual effect and scoring. And I found both of that elements in Dune very boldly just like this sentence that I put in bold.
Especially the scoring. It’s amazing. It’s grand and mesmerising. It captures the audiences feeling in some particular scenes and adds more tension in it. If I could, I would give a standing ovation on the theater where I watched it. But I was too afraid to do it, I’m sorry.
The explanations come very smoothly here and there in the movie. Well it has 2 hours and 35 minutes, so they have quite enough time to explain everything. And they did. But the pace is very slow. It feels like Denis gives the audiences more time to digest the whole story. And it will make you realise that this movie will not end in just one movie. I hate that realisation.
But it’s very enjoyable, and very child friendly. You can watch this movie with anyone you want, but maybe reconsider to bring a baby because the loud and tense sound effect can scare them and make them cry.
Now, about the cast.
Before I get to it, I want to let you know that I adore Timothée Chalamet. Not just because he’s VERY handsome, but also he’s a very good actor (for me, you see it’s a personal opinion). And I don’t know how, I always feel so focused on the story when I watched his movie. And perhaps that’s why I was so easy to understand Dune’s complicated storyline.
Timothée Chalamet is very good as Paul Atreides. Not biased, but really very good. Trust me. Or not, whatever you like.
There’s this one scene that you will see how good Timothée is, as an actor. He delivers such performance that will make you stay until the end of the movie (which not really the end).
But actually for me, the star isn’t Timothée, it’s Rebecca Ferguson. Portrayed Lady Jessica, Paul’s mother and Duke Leto’s mistress (I seriously thought she was his wife. But thank you Denis for explaining this bit in the movie. Wikipedia describe her as Duke Leto’s concubine. I don’t know which one is worse).
Lady Jessica’s character and Rebecca Ferguson’s acting is two beautiful things in the movie. I just love it so much. And how the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother said that she wasted that much power for a boy, really screams girl power. And I just love it. This paragraph didn’t make sense at all but I just want to let it out.
A big turn off in this movie is WHERE IS ZENDAYA?? YOU PROMISE ME A LOT OF HER IN THE TRAILER BUT SHE’S NOTHING BUT A FRACTION IN TIMOTHEE’S DREAM??
I just have to let it out. I can’t contain it anymore…
Anyway, watching this movie reminds me a lot about story from the past. About colonisation in order to exploit the spice resource, which other countries did to my country. Where there were two countries fighting over who will rule the colonised country, and so on. Only the set is different. And they make it more futuristic. But still, I kinda feel attacked, for real. It really hits close to home as it is a very sensitive matter.
Then again, it’s just a movie. A Fantasy one. I just have to put the thought aside and enjoy it.
For me, I will definitely watch the next part of Dune (sorry, spoiler. But yes, this movie is Part One of the saga. You will see a ‘Part One’ in the beginning of the movie). The reason is not because I was curious about what will happen next, but because there’s not really much movie saga like this anymore apart from the superhero ones. So I really looking forward to it. And I hope Zendaya will appear MORE in the next part.
So, I hope you’re enjoying reading this so-called review. Where I actually just talking nonsense to kill time.
See you in another post!
