The sands of time have shifted once again, creating a new adaptation of a classic Sci-Fi book. “Dune” hit theaters on October 22, 2021 and soon hit number one in the world.

“Dune” is based on the novel, published in 1965 by Frank Herbert. Despite movies usually straying from their books, according to audience reviews, “Dune” mostly stayed true to the story. In addition to the book, there had already been a movie made over “Dune” that was released in 1984.

Today’s “Dune” was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who is well known for his filmmaking in “Blade Runner 2049” and “Arrival.” Both movies are thrilling Sci-Fi movies like “Dune.”

This futuristic movie opens with young Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet, who is thought by his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and the people of his planet to be the messiah due to his recent visions about a mysterious girl, Chani (Zendaya). The House of Atreides moves to the dangerous desert planet of Arrakis, which happens to be the setting of Paul’s visions. 

The native people, the Fremen, don’t exactly welcome them with open arms. Over the course of the film, Paul and his family see the planet as well as the giant sand worms that they share the desert with. They become allies with some of the Fremen while Paul grows more aware of the warnings in his visions. 

“Dune” has a great deal of CGI, and it was presented beautifully. The scenes were perfectly made, and the effects in battle sequences were very realistic. 

Every aspect of the costumes were also very well thought out, with all of the features of the stillsuit (the desert suit) and the strategically placed motifs on the family’s fancier clothing.

The soundtrack can’t be described any other way than epic. It added to the desert-like and futuristic themes of the film. The actors did an incredible job relaying the emotions of the characters to the audience. They paid very close attention to the mood of the scene and when the lines should be louder or quieter. The movie itself was very beautiful.

As good as the movie was, there were definitely some flaws. Many that have seen “Dune” will agree that the movie was very drawn out and could have comfortably fit in an hour and a half long movie. There were many unnecessary overviews of scenes when the audience already knew where the setting was. 

“Dune” is described as an adventure movie. Yes, there were many action scenes, but there wasn’t quite a climax of the movie. The climax is supposed to be the turning point, and usually the most exciting part of the movie; however there was no scene that had me really excited until the end.

Additionally, the amount of screentime that Zendaya had in this movie was very disappointing. With her being the second actor on the cast list, it was expected that she would play a larger role. Yet she only made a real appearance in the last 15 minutes of the movie, and she only had about ten lines. 

There was, however, a very interesting cliff-hanger that left the audience on the edge of their seats. This massive cliff-hanger left a chasm that was only assumed to be filled with a second movie, and the assumptions were correct.

The actors and director announced “Dune: Part 2” not even a week after “Dune” came to theaters. “Dune” will return for Part 2 in October 2023. 

For the amount of excitement there was around this movie coming out, it ended up being just a good movie. There were aspects of the movie that were absolutely stunning, and there were some parts that could’ve been better. It wasn’t a complete let down, and it was definitely worth watching.

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