Let’s say it plainly; the fact that this has been made to any sort of level of quality as it is, is a thing of greatness. Perhaps that’s being wholly dismissive of the fact that the film is of course based on one of the greatest books of all time, however time after time, budgets, mediums and an overall lack of craft in delivering the immense depth of exposition the novel contains have hindered the possibility of quality adaptations surfacing. In the case of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, which I feel I must immediately clarify is certainly Part One, is undoubtedly the best adaptation of the product thus far – that is of course the sequel maintains the quality when concluding the tale. But with this being said for all its incredible, awe-inspired, jaw-dropping achievements, Dune still feels like a slightly impenetrable feature in some ways.

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On a technical level there is just no denying that Dune is one of the finest films of the 21st century. In this regard I will join the mass of critical crowds declaring this film as the new messiah. Villeneuve directs a film with such a startingly well conceived balance of practical and CGI effects that one wonders like no other film in recent memory what was real and what was a computer effect. The production design of Patrice Vermette, along with the costuming of Bob Morgan and Jacqueline West bring everything in this ethereal sci-fi world into a beautifully grounded tangible sensibility. It’s so wonderfully refreshing to have things feel real once more on film, or at least in this one. However this is in no way the films only asset, all of this design is in service of a impeccably well written script. Perhaps not in the dialogue sense, although many conversations are intriguing and all dialogue feels natural, but in the sense of exposition and a structure that allows these facts to reveal themselves in a manner that feels almost entirely wholly natural, is the films perhaps greatest achievement. Of course this film has the virtue of allowing time to be taken with such matters and although the film does front-load a lot of information, this is still a front-load across the first perfect 90 minutes of this film. For me this is the first point of contention when it comes the films failures and actually failure really is a word too strong by half. In regards to narrative and having this first film have a succsifule arc, the film for me does stumble. Overall the first 90 minutes are sublime and sp wonderfully propellant that one can barley catch their breath or notice that they’re mostly being liner notes for the rest of the film/series, culminating in an astounding extended action scene that is certainly the films greatest set piece. However following this the film goes into a stretch that is not extremely lesser by any means, but is certainly not of as high a quality as the first 90 minutes. It’s slower for a start and such a sudden change in pace does throw one of, and by the time we realise that the film is concluding I really did feel that I had only been given part of a meal. Which of course I had been, however this film doesn’t currently stand alone as a piece for me as well as I wish it could. It is clearly dependent on its sequel, and of course I don’t have that.

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It goes without saying that this is one of the finest assembled casts in some time and I can’t say I’m exactly surprised, but everybody really does an excellent job, bar one person who I will discuss in a moment. This could very quickly become a list of just saying how great people are, but really that is what the film warrants. Everybody (bar one) really is excellent in their roles, every single person (bar one). It amazes me to what extent everybody (bar one) really did do as perfect a job in portraying these roles as anybody could. Then there’s Chalamet. Chalamet is by far for me the worst part of this film. There is the argument to be made that this is down to Villeneuve’s direction and not his performance, however I can’t go for that argument due to the already stated exemplary turns of everybody else involved. I have liked Chalamet a lot in the past however here the film really does struggle at points down to him. Time after time he shares scenes with actors giving it their all, and his lifeless monotone performance grew to deeply infuriate me. As a matter of fact on my second cinema watch the performance genuinely grew to anger me. It is a testament to how good almost every other element of this film is that it still works, however Chalamet really is the standout weakling and my hatred of his performance and the lifelessness of it really is the biggest thing standing in front of me returning to the cinema for a third time. I don’t wish to be too hyperbolic, but on a second watch I genuinely couldn’t believe to what extent I thought he was simply terrible.

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A genuinely sublime 8/10 powerhouse prowess as one our best currently working filmmakers. In tackling Dune has achieved what so many for years has deemed impossible, one can only hope that with the second part the landing is stuck. And I feel that if the second film is of a same quality then my opinion of this film will only heighten, with the simple fact that this film on its own really doesn’t for me come to much of a conclusive arc, albeit as aforementioned for me that is purely down to Chalamet’s performance, whether or not this is Villeneuve’s fault is another matter. And also my issues with the films overall arc with it only being a half a story annoys me more and more each day. 

P.S. It’s no Spoiler for a person to know that this is Part One and as a matter of fact I feel like this knowledge actually helps one going into the film in regard to plotting and this films arc.

-       -   Thomas Carruthers