DUNE (2021)

Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic gets another long-awaited adaptation of the story of Paul Atreides, a gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding. Paul must travel to the most dangerous planet in the Universe; The desert planet ‘Arrakis’, to ensure the future of his family, but also possibly the fates and freedom of the indigenous people of this new World. Certainly, Herbert’s book has proved famously challenging to adapt into conventional cinema run times ( as David Lynch’s Dune (1984) effort can attest to. Denis Villeneuve's version here certainly lets the landscape vistas do the talking here, with huge wide shots of armies and landscapes in almost a homage to David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962). With the famously exposition-heavy source material, making way for an audio-visual sensory experience, with pure cinema in mind. Everything is pared down, even Hans Zimmer’s score serves Villeneuve’s vision rather than dictate a theme as such. All this certainly translates the scale of the book, with huge wide shots of armies and landscapes. Villeneuve has cherry-picked the very best in the business with his cast, and all of them deliver. Wisely Villeneuve's film only cover's half of the book designed with a second film to act as part 2 to complete this epic. This film sets the scene nicely in a fashion that will remind viewers of the cinema styles of yesteryear.