If you are one of those rare breeds who still love reading books especially fictional ones then the word DUNE will not be foreign to you. People often rave about The Lord of the Rings and The song of Ice and fire as one of the finest fiction written, however, there is a science fiction book that is even better than these two legends especially if we are ranking in terms of original ideas. DUNE is as original as it gets with a world woven so intricately in the deserts that it feels you would definitely find this world somewhere in the Sahara desert.
I have always been a fan of this book and I was super excited when I first heard that David Villeneuve – the legendary director of Sicario, Arrival and Blade runner 2040 would be helming the project.
You can read Dune- the book review here.
The excitement went through the roof when I heard it would have Hans Zimmer’s score and the lead would be played the young and super talented Timothe chalet. So I went with really high expectation to be blown away like I was while watching The Arrival (which remains one of my favourite alien movies).
However, I came out of the theatre with a mixed feeling. Don’t take me wrong the movie had one of the best productions values with jaw-dropping visuals, impeccable cinematography and as expected a class-leading music score by Hans Zimmer. Still, as a fan of the book and avid movie lover, I feel DUNE has some major problem areas. Let me explain
Complicated world setting
Creating a fictional world with its own land of rules is a daunting task. We have seen that in Lord of the rings, Game of Thrones and Harry potter. However, those worlds still had very easy to understand rules, like in harry potter –Hogwarts and the school of magic were easy as we are familiar with the term magic. DUNE has a world where even water is unique with its scarcity and techniques of preservation. This apart from the desert worm, the magical spice- mélange that is used to heighten senses and prolong life, hand language, mind control through voice, fighters with a halo-like shield that protects them from fast-moving objects, a still suit that recycles bodily water..the list is frankly extensive. The movie with its limited timeline is unable to elaborate on all these resulting in several blank spots for the audience during the movie.
Half the story arc
Reading the 1000+ pages book I completely understand that the story of DUNE is humungous and cannot be shown in a 2-hour movie. However, a standalone movie should have a proper arc and ideally should end at a cliffhanger. DUNE neither ends in a proper arc nor is there a cliffhanger that would compel the audience to storm the theatres to watch the 2nd part.
Confusing to understand for a non-book viewer
“What the heck is going on ?” my brother threw his hands in the air after watching 20 minutes of the movie. I had to fill him in with crucial details after which he slowly started to get a hang of the story. That’s the biggest problem area of DUNE. If you have not read the book, it is very likely that you would have an expression very similar to my brother as a lot of things will just not make sense. It’s not that director David Villeneuve has not put in the effort of explaining this complicated world but the world Frank Herbert created is indeed so complicated and nuanced that I think the story was better suited for a Tv series. Hence apart from the book fans who came to watch their favourite story unravel on the big screen, I think this would be a disappointment for regular moviegoers.
So to conclude DUNE is definitely a visual spectacle but it would be enjoyed thoroughly only by the fans who have read and cherished the book for years.
So to conclude DUNE is definitely a visual spectacle but it would be enjoyed thoroughly only by the fans who have read and cherished the book for years.
