Movie Review: Dune

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Top-notch sci-fi filmmaking. 

This move manages to do what so many sci-fi films try to do but fail at, this is to make us feel like we entered a new world. Over the course of this film, I became very engaged in this sci-fi world and by the end it felt completely real. There are multiple reasons for this. One is that this movie is not afraid to slow down and take its time and this allows us to fully absorb the setting and the people who live there in a completely natural and unforced and unrushed way. It also allows us to spend some quality time in this world instead of hopping from place to place or being overwhelmed with action scenes (both of which too many sci-fi films do), making the audience truly have the feeling that they are visiting this place for a couple hours. Another reason is the excellent sweeping cinematography. Though much of the film takes place in desert, it is made highly visually interesting in a large part due to Greig Fraser's (Who has experience with big budget sci-fi due to being the cinematographer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and some episodes of The Mandalorian) sweeping cinematography. Another reason is that the film really delves into the mythology (which plays an important part in the story) and the politics of these planets (this is done expertly as to never feel like it is simply exposition). One can never discount how much music adds to a film and Hans Zimmer's music adds a lot to making this world feel real. 

On top of this our main character is extremely likable and gives us an emotional connection with the story. None of that is hurt by how good Timothée Chalamet is in the role. In fact this whole movie is very well cast with every actor working perfectly as the characters they are portraying. 

The storyline is very well handled. It features many of the complexities and deeper meanings that are present in the source material but at the same time, tells a seemingly simple story very well. This way audiences can enjoy it on two levels. Though this is not a fast moving film at all, I was amazed when the end credits started to roll that I had had been watching it for two and a half hours, because it went by so quickly. I didn't want it to be over. This film is obviously not the end of the story and I can't wait to watch what happens next.