Epic ‘Dune’ builds slowly... to no end
“Dune,” Denis Villeneuves’s take on Frank Herbert’s epic science-fiction novel (in theaters and on HBO Max Friday), announces itself as “part one.”
It’s not kidding.
When the last line of a movie that lasts two and a half hours is, “It’s not the end. It’s just the beginning” and they actually mean it, you know you’re in for a lot of exposition.
Luckily, it’s really good exposition, a visual feast of fantastical scenes that still seem somehow plausible, much like in Villeneuve’s outstanding (and superior) “Arrival.”
A working knowledge of Herbert’s novel is not essential. If you don’t know Spice from Shinola, you’ll still be sucked in.
By the way it looks, for sure. By the story? Probably, though that’s a little tougher sell – but ultimately worth your while. A tremendous cast helps.
Chalamet’s Paul Atreides may be a messiah, but he’s a reluctant one
Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and possibly a messiah, though Paul is a little reluctant on the latter front. His mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), is a member of the Bene Gesserit, mystical women who for centuries have been working to produce The One – which Paul seems to be.
Jessica quietly trains him in their ways, like the use of the “Voice,” which allows its user to control the mind and actions of others. Meanwhile, Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) and Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) train him for battle.
He’ll need all of these skills and more. House Atreides is taking over supervision of Arrakis, the planet where Spice – crucial to space travel but also sacred to the Fremen, who live on Arrakis – is mined. It’s a blow to House Harkonnen, led by the squishy, evil lump, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (an unrecognizable Stellan Skarsgard), who had been mining Spice there for ages.
Or is it?
The Fremen also believe Paul may be the savior they have looked for for centuries. For his part, in addition to thinking it all sounds like a bunch of superstitious nonsense, Paul is troubled by his dreams – and haunted by the enigmatic woman who appears in them. That’s Zendaya, as Chani, a Freman woman who, for most of the movie, only appears in Paul’s dreams. (Again: part one.)
Arrakis is a barren desert that makes Arizona look like the Garden of Eden. The heat of the day can be lethal. Then there are the sand worms, the famous monsters drawn toward any rhythmic movement in the sand, like walking – or mining. Villeneuve orchestrates an exciting escape scene when equipment malfunction requires a breakneck evacuation of a mining operation.
The general state of the equipment is one of the signs to Leto that he may have been set up to fail. There are others.
Villeneuve sets a lot of things in motion. Then the movie just … stops
Through it all, Paul remains rather enigmatic. Maybe that’s a family trait, too, because practically everyone is. In part, that is because in some ways the film is one big long table setter. In part, it’s because the royals can be a rather formal bunch when they want to be, hiding their emotions. In part, it’s just because that’s what the story is.
Then again, Leto is out there flying helicopters with insect wings where rotors should be, zipping around with the best of the pilots. They’re an interesting bunch.
Palace intrigue will send Paul on the run with Jessica through the desert sands, dodging deadly heat and worms along the way. They’ll also finally encounter the Fremen, led by Stillgar (Javier Bardem – the cast does not lack for star power). And Paul will meet Chani. The stage is set for … part two.
Just like that. Sit and think about what you just saw – you’ve got a while. All fair enough, I suppose. A tale this massive needs some time to be told.
The problem is the making of a second film isn’t set in stone. If it doesn’t happen, it would be a huge letdown. Again, 155 minutes is a lot of time for throat clearing, but by the time the film is done Villeneuve is hitting his stride. He has created a complex, intriguing world.
So many things have been set in motion – but just that. As beautiful and as ambitious as “Dune” is, as the last line says, it’s just the beginning.
Let’s hope we get an end.