Dune (2021) Review

It has felt like forever but Dune is finally out and I have now watched the film and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a young man attempting to find his place and learn how to be a leader while staving off enemy forces. 

Main Character

Timothy Chalamet plays the lead character Paul and he is good in this film. He just portrays the role well and you can see him struggling with his identity and the pressure that is put onto him, as the film progresses he grows in confidence and capability and he really does a great job of that. He isn't a character you will get that invested in emotionally but he has an interesting character progression and is an effective lead. 

Supporting Characters

Rebecca Ferguson plays his mother and she is really good. For me she was the real emotion of the film and you see this woman really get broken down due to her allegiances and loyalty to two different ways of life. She is a really strong actress and manages to stand out despite the top quality talent on show in this film. My other two favourite performances were from Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin, they don't get tonnes of screen time but I really like the heroic awesome warriors and they both do a great job at it and add some life into the film. Oscar Issac plays Paul's father and he is good in the role, I don't think it's his best performance ever but he is solid and you believe in his relationship with Paul and the dynamic that they have. Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardem and Zendaya also all do good jobs but they have pretty small roles here. 

Story 

The story is a real coming of age story for Paul and in that I think it is effective and does its job really well. It introduces us to this new world and as an introduction I think it was also good at making me interested in the world and how things were done and run. But this film does have some issues, as a novice of the source material, I felt like so much was being thrown at me that it was hard to take it all in and really get to grips with exactly what character motivations are. Also the story feels a bit all over the place, it wants to fit lots in and it gets lost within each other. 

Script 

The script is very dramatic and dark and it mostly works, I wanted to see these characters succeed in what they were doing but I did feel like that was mostly due to the quality of the acting. The humour is barely here, I am not asking for a laugh fest but it feels awkward when all the people are always monotone and incredibly serious. 

Style

This film looks gorgeous, the real star of the film is the cinematography and sound design as I was in awe watching it and listening to this incredible soundtrack. I liked all the technology and fight scenes too with some really interesting ideas put on the screen. But I had a real issue with the pacing of this film, it has a slow pace and it turned this 2 and a half hour film feel like a 4 hour film. I think this film could have ended at a certain point and I would have enjoyed it so much more, but it ended up dragging and overstaying its welcome. 

Overall

Overall Dune is a good film but for me felt short of my expectations. It feels like it is setting up the now confirmed sequel so much that it doesn't focus on the film at hand, it is still a good film and if that sequel really delivers then maybe it will all be worth it. 

Rating - 7/10