“Dune” was the blockbuster Warner Bros. was banking on. A large, expensive, sci-fi, action flick with a dense and admittedly difficult story to follow is what Warner Bros had hoped would be their hit of the year, last year.
The original release date for “Dune” was Nov. of 2020, but that did not happen due to COVID-19. Warner kept pushing it back, hoping for the moment in time where theaters would be back up and running and they can hopefully at least make their money back. After a year, they decided to let the thing play in theaters and at homes through their HBO Max streaming service.
As a fan of Denis Villeneuve, director of “Prisoners,” “Blade Runner 2049,” and “Arrival,” I was anticipating this film for a very long time. Not just because he is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and competent directors today, but finally being able to see a decent adaptation of the immense and complex “Dune” book by Frank Herbert made me ecstatic. If you are in the know, you will have realized this isn’t the first time someone tried to adapt the story, as auteur director and all-around weirdo David Lynch tried (and failed) to tell the story through the film medium.
Villeneuve’s version is not nearly as messy or boring as Lynch’s, however. While yes, it is very slow and may not hold everyone’s interest for the entire runtime, 2021’s “Dune” is masterful in its beauty, world building, and storytelling. The budget was clearly well spent as the movie looks very expensive. The budget for the filming was 135 million dollars, but my guess would have been at least double that.
But that is not to say the value of this movie is simply in the production value. The story and characters are rich with personality and intrigue. The story can be hard to follow, but if you really push yourself to get into it and understand the world, then you will be greatly rewarded by the end. Even if you don’t know what exactly is going on in the story, the characters are enough to keep you engaged.
“Dune” expertly tells its expansive story comprehensively without dumbing itself down for both book and film audiences. Almost any other director outside of Villeneuve wouldn’t be able to handle its scale, and that is what makes it so impressive. While not the easiest watch, “Dune” is easy to recommend to any film or science fiction fan.
Alex Ross
Alex Rossis a third-year Communication student at Lock Haven with a focus in Journalism. This is his second year as an active member of the Eagle Eye and has been the Arts and Entertainment editor, News editor, and an active writer. He focuses on writing reviews for the A&E section, but has written stories for news, sports, and opinions. Outside of the newsroom, Alex enjoys record shopping, reading classic literature, and analyzing films. Alex hopes to work for a film or music news site as a writer or editor after graduation.
