Dune (2021)

When I selected this as my first viewing on a long plane ride, I knew it was pretty popular, but I had no idea it would be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. That's impressive considering past attempts to do justice to the Frank Herbert novel. And having read the book myself, I was aware of features that could make a screen adaptation difficult.

When humans have an intergalactic empire, desert planet Arrakis becomes noted for three things: an invaluable spice, giant sandworms, and primitive but dangerous locals called Fremen. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), son of Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) and Bene Gesserit religious acolyte Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), can't help but get caught up in the rampant jockeying for power among imperial elites. It becomes increasingly evident that his skills and temperament are key to forming a Fremen alliance against the forces of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), who will stop at nothing to control spice traffic. Paul even shows signs of being the superpowered messiah long awaited by the Bene Gesserit, called the Kwisatz Haderach, tho he doesn't exactly see eye to eye with them.

Boy, are there a lot of superhero movie veterans herein. In addition to Isaac and Skarsgård, we have Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Jason Momoa, and Roger Yuan in considerable roles. The one other name I recognize is Javier Bardem. I think the studio knew what it was doing.

One problem with David Lynch's 1984 Dune was that it rarely succeeded at eliciting any emotion besides disgust. Denis Villeneuve (who continues to do much better with sci-fi than other genres IMO) avoids that pitfall by giving characters time to build up credibility and relatability so we feel what they feel. No wonder this movie covers only the first half of the first volume. Oh, and the vulgarity of the baron is downplayed a little.

Another past issue was in focusing heavily on the messianic aspects: "Oh look, another prophecy fulfilled!" That gets tedious, alien, and anti-suspenseful. Here we get only sparse hints, and Paul himself probably doesn't believe it yet. He certainly doesn't act entitled yet, even when he gets the hang of the commanding Voice.

The special effects, of course, have gotten superior, particularly with regard to the scary sandworms. I don't recall this much action in any previous iteration. I find Momoa as Paul's mentor Duncan Idaho especially cool.

Honestly, I think this flick improves overall on the book itself. It may sacrifice or postpone details regarding intellectual schemes, but it comes across more as constant entertainment for regular minds. It makes me eager for the sequel, even knowing the gist of what happens next.

Oscar-worthy? Well, maybe in a weak year. Or a year when the Academy is desperate to win back the audience. Still, I'm glad to have seen at least one nominee before the winners are announced.