Review | ‘Dune’: a soulless feast for the eyes

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi thriller “Dune,” starring Timothée Chalamet, favors spectacle over narrative. Photo illustration by SAM ANDRUS, Photo Editor

The odds seemed to be stacked against Denis Villeneuve’s much anticipated sci-fi spectacle “Dune” which premiered Oct. 22 — almost a year after its expected release date — to mixed reactions.

While I have been excited for a lot of movies that had their release date bumped to 2021, this one was on the top of my list. It had so much potential, especially with the promise of subsequent installments, but for now I’m left wanting more.

The film has a star-studded cast with heartthrob Timothée Chalamet in the leading role as Paul Atreides — which, I’ll be real, was my main source of excitement going into the theater. Paul is a young prince with a supernatural gift who is prophesied to bring peace to the desert planet of Arrakis, which is being colonized for its resources. While at first reluctant to become a leader, he is forced into action when his family is attacked. Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson play Paul’s parents, with Jason Mamoa and Zendaya in supporting roles.

On its release day, the blockbuster became available in theatres and to HBO Max streaming service subscribers concurrently — a move that stirred controversy surrounding the trajectory of the film industry. With the closure of ArcLight Cinemas, a small Los Angeles theater chain known for running independent films, and the losses that many films such as “Tenet” suffered, the future of theater-going practices and filmmaking seemed to be up in the air. 

“Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of ‘Dune’s’ scope and scale,” Villeneuve said in an exclusive letter to Variety from December 2020. “Warner Bros’ decision means ‘Dune’ won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph.”

Fortunately for Villeneuve, the film has since had the best opening day box office turnout for an HBO Max same-day release, coming in with $17.5 million. In comparison, “The Suicide Squad,” which released August 6, had an opening day box office of $12 million.

As I sat down in the crowded theater on Thursday night, I felt tingly with excitement when the audience cheered as the Warner Bros. logo appeared on the screen. I was amazed at the gorgeous cinematography and massive galactic set pieces, almost so much so that the narrative seemed inconsequential.

“Dune” fans can pretty much be rest assured that they’ll get a part two, a factor that the filmmaker seemed to lean on in this expository film titled “Dune: Part One” in its opening sequence. However, this is where I felt the film failed.

The plot is inherently mundane; the story only starts to get interesting towards the end, and maybe that wouldn’t have been such a problem if I didn’t feel so detached and — dare I say — bored.

I wasn’t bothered by the two and a half hour length or the speed of the film, but rather my lack of engagement with the characters.

Ferguson gave the most compelling performance, while Chalamet, Isaac and Mamoa’s performances lacked depth. At first, I thought the problem was a miscasting of Chalamet, but when I realized a consistency throughout many of the actors, it became apparent that Villeneuve’s directing just wasn’t up to par.

The director seemed to focus too much on the spectacle of the production and not enough time delving into the characters to create an engaging narrative. It was beautiful to watch, but I couldn’t help feeling like it was missing something.

This was disappointing, considering Villeneuve's exceptional track-record with sci-fi blockbusters such as “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049.” “Arrival” was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. 

With this impressive filmography, I expected a lot more from “Dune.” It’s easy to say that the problems stem from this being just part one of a larger story, but even that can excuse only so much. I’ll still come out to the theatre to see part two (whenever that may be considering the franchise’s large scale of production), but I don’t see myself rewatching or thinking about this film in the meantime.

Despite my lukewarm reaction to the film, I desperately wanted to love it and could see the film growing on me as the story develops in the upcoming installments. With all the polarizing reactions, everyone seems to have their own unique experience with “Dune,” which is a testament to Villeneuve’s filmmaking and a reason I still encourage others to see it.