Dune (2021)

October 21st

I am not going to lie and pretend otherwise — I am a sci-fi snob and somewhat an expert as it pertains to books and movies of that genre. I wasn't awaiting the release of “Dune” with a lot of expectations and that was the proper attitude from me. The movie is ok, no more, no less. There are some stunning visuals and the cinematography is very good. CGI is top-notch as expected from Denis Villeneuve’s movies. The story is coherent and kind of follows the storyline from the book by Frank Herbert. I didn't like the acting — Timothée Chalamet is perfectly typecast as a moody, woke teenager but completely misses the mark in portraying a relationship with his mother which is so important for the story. Oscar Isaac — wooden and unconvincing as always, and nobody from the rest of the cast really stands out.

The biggest problem for me with that movie was the lack of imagination. The space fighters look a lot like X-wings from “Star Wars”, the Sand Worms are just like huge Sarlaccs from “Star Wars” that can move, Imperial troops are just as inept in sword fighting as Stormtroopers from “Star Wars” are at shooting (and stand in formation just like them). I don't think the homage to the original “Stars Wars” was the intent in “Dune” but it sure looks like a lot was borrowed from the original classic. It seems that creating new visuals that can covey sci-fi ideas is rather difficult and I guess it is safer to stick to derivatives of already tried concepts.