Dune Review

Photo Credit - Warner Bros. Studios

The Dune that hit theaters in 1984 was terrible. How terrible? Terrible to the point my parents, who let me watch Beverly Hills Cop and JoJo Dancer: Your Life is Calling upon their release in theaters, told me no when I asked about seeing it after they saw it. Rife with blunders such as campy effects, bad editing, and too little room to tell its story, the original Dune was one of the most disappointing films of the decade.

However, the property warranted another shot because the source material is one of the most well-regarded sci-fi books ever written. Two well-received Syfy Network productions showed the Dune story’s potential cinematically. Based on that potential, Sicario and Blade Runner 2049 helmer Denis Villeneuve brings us the Dune reboot.

The premise is the same as the original. A young nobleman (played by Timothée Chalamet) must come of age to defend his kingdom in an intergalactic fight to control a precious resource called “spice.”

Four decades later, it’s perfectly logical to assume there will be significant changes in an updated Dune film. Can Villeneuve’s spin on Dune change its cinematic fortunes? In the words of Jermaine Lemarr Cole, the good news is you came a long way; the bad news is you went the wrong way.

The 2021 Dune bests the 1984 adaptation in several ways that places this iteration light years ahead of the previous theatrical release. It acts as an origin story for Paul and the intergalactic conflict at hand instead of following in the ill-fated footsteps of the first film and attempting to the entire book into 2.5 hours. Villeneuve gives the current film a much better flow and connectivity to the story using a slower pace that allows essential pieces and characters of the Dune story to expand.

The technical aspects in the 2021 version also mark a tremendous improvement over the previous film, starting with the visual effects. There isn’t anything new brought to the table, but the film has a closer resemblance to the Star Wars-esque epic many were expecting for the first Dune to be when it was initially released.

From the personal forcefields to the in-flight sequences, the current Dune's VFX has a more finished and polished look fit for a work of this magnitude instead of the unintended campiness seen in the first film. While one could solely credit the progress to technological advancements made over the last 35+ years, that line of thinking does not account for the effects in the 1984 film not being spectacular for its time.

The cinematography also received an enhancement thanks to the eyes of cinematographer Greig Fraser. In the original film, the desert looks like a sandbox in an Olan Mills studio. Fraser goes a step further and shoots the desert as if it’s an active participant in the story with camera angles and lighting that make the setting as dangerous as the sandworms who reside in it. Fraser’s impressive camera work isn’t reserved for landscape only as his shots of the characters either in combat or being presented as nobles are equally remarkable.

The acting was not an issue in the first film because it had a stellar cast of the 80s who’s who and a star-making debut from Kyle McLaughlin, but this area also improved with arguably as good a group of actors 2021 will see. Chalamet carries the coming-of-age aspect of Dune with ease, and Oscar Issac and Rebecca Ferguson outshine their 80s counterparts, but Stellan Skarsgard’s was the strongest performer. Hardly recognizable in a CGI costume, Skarsgard uses his limited screen time to haunt and leave his menacing presence lingering throughout the film.

Sadly, 2021 Dune negates the aforementioned progress by being more confusing and convoluted than its 1984 counterpart. The 1984 film gives a brief but critical overview of the galaxy’s current status and its relation to Paul. This version has no such explanation and leaves viewers who weren’t previously exposed to the Dune universe in the dark. Honestly, it can be a little hard to follow if you saw any of the other Dune works.

That level of ambiguity is wholly unnecessary and reeks of the sentiment Purple Rain’s Billy Sparks so eloquently articulated – “nobody digs your music but yourself.” A small primer via a prologue would have made a markedly improved film property even more of an improvement. Otherwise, you're undoing all the good will created by the updates to other parts of the film.

2021 Dune surpasses the previous film and expectations in every way. Villeneuve’s storytelling brings a pace and prestige that paints a well-crafted picture of Herbert’s tale. Its visual effects excel in a way that warrants plenty of awards season discussion, as does the cinematography. The acting performances, specifically Chalamet and Skarsgard, are leaps and bounds better than the turns from the previous stellar cast. The newer Dune loses some of its luster as it’ll likely lose viewers who aren’t knowledgeable about why the battles in the film are being fought.

Thankfully, that misstep is correctable by viewing the 1984 film before watching the current one, making the 2021 Dune a must-see. IMAX is an excellent way to watch Dune because of the technical upgrades, but you don’t miss anything by viewing at home either.