303. Dune; movie review

 

DUNE

Cert 12A

156 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, bloody images

“We Are House Atreides. There Is No Call We Do Not Answer. There Is No Faith That We Betray. The Emperor Asks Us To Bring Peace To Arrakis. House Atreides Accepts!”

If only the Duke of Atreides had Dad's Army's Sergeant Wilson by his side with a quizzical: "Do you really think that's wise, sir?"

Instead, he takes his people to an inhospitable planet with giant worms bursting through the sandy wastes and two armies set on destroying them.

Yep, the emperor of the universe looks as though he has set them up.

Denis Villeneuve's ambitious remake stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul, the heir to to the leadership of Atreides and Oscar Isaac as his dad, a pragmatist who seeks long-lasting peace but little knowing of the plots against him.

Rebecca Ferguson plays the heir's mother who takes responsibility in keeping him away from the dangers caused by treachery and betrayal and Josh Brolin is his dad's fearless right-hand man.

Meanwhile, skulduggery is led by Stellan Skarsgard who has been transformed into a cross between Jabba The Hut from Star Wars and Fat Bastard from Austin Powers.

Obviously, the fans of these type of films want to know whether the action scenes match up to the likes of Star Wars.

Certainly, the special effects guys have had their fun but I can't say they blew me away - maybe their reduced use of CGI backfired.

Villeneuve has obviously put a lot into the movie - even going to the extent of filming in the desert in Jordan.

He has received much critical acclaim and the movie has done well at the box office but I wasn't bought into the characters as much as others.

True, I am not a big sci-fi fan but my major difficulty was that it took me quite a while to work out what was going on.

And, sure, Chalamet is an engaging young lead but I wasn't sure about Isaac as a leader of men or Skarsgard as the ruthless villain.

The truth is that its impact on me was so tepid that I watched it two weeks ago and can barely remember it.

Reasons to watch: If you are a sci-fi fan

Reasons to avoid: Complicated plot

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Stellan Skarsgård spent almost 30% of his time working on the movie in the makeup chair (about 8 hours total a day).

The final word. Denis Villeneuve: "I was afraid of not being able to be good enough. That I will not be able to please that teenager that was dreaming 35 years ago about this movie." Variety

Share this post