As a fan of the book, I really wanted to like Dune. And perhaps as a fan of the book my expectations were too high. Dune had the potential to be one of the great films of recent times. The material - if difficult to adapt - is there. Themes that, despite the book's publication date of 1965, seem ever so relevant today: natural resource exploitation to the detriment of the environment; drug addiction and its geo-political consequences; rebellion against colonial occupation; the power of religion as a political tool; a cautionary perspective on the western hero journey. This story could have hit a serious chord with today's audiences. Alas, Villeneuve's film depicts the plot of Dune, but fails to tell its story. It marches through the plot points, bringing them to life with impressive visual style, but fails to hone in on the themes above. We're left with a solid sci-fi adventure that really could have been so much more.
It's possible Villeneuve was not the right director for this adaptation, despite his professed love for the book. He is no doubt an accomplished director with a strong track record, but I always suspected he was more of a technical maestro than an emotive storyteller, and Dune seems to confirm that. In the end, there is a shortage of scenes that are memorable on an emotional level. Furthermore, there is a serious lost opportunity to inject suspense into the first act of the film, instead turning it into a plodding exercise in exposition. Thus the feeling of fatalism that pervades the book is nowhere to be found. Character moments which would have required no additional screen time, such as Gurney's penchant for singing, are lost, and the character development suffers as a result. Equally confounding is the lack of focus on the spice, which really should have been a "character" in its own right.
My other major gripe is with the score and pacing, which feed off one another. Pounding, rhythmic scores like Hans Zimmer's seem to be all the rage these days, but am I passé for wanting a melodic refrain that emotionally reinforces the climactic moments? Once it gets going, Zimmer's score never lets up and never gives the audience a chance to catch their breath. The pacing gets stuck in one speed with no time to dwell on the important moments, a surprising blunder for a director you would expect to know the value of varying pitch and tone. To be fair, Dune is not an easy book to adapt, and properly telling this tale probably required more runtime than the studio was willing to stomach. However, I still would have expected Villeneuve's passion for the material to run a bit deeper than surface level.
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You can get more reviews from me at my substack Haremonious Sounds.
It's possible Villeneuve was not the right director for this adaptation, despite his professed love for the book. He is no doubt an accomplished director with a strong track record, but I always suspected he was more of a technical maestro than an emotive storyteller, and Dune seems to confirm that. In the end, there is a shortage of scenes that are memorable on an emotional level. Furthermore, there is a serious lost opportunity to inject suspense into the first act of the film, instead turning it into a plodding exercise in exposition. Thus the feeling of fatalism that pervades the book is nowhere to be found. Character moments which would have required no additional screen time, such as Gurney's penchant for singing, are lost, and the character development suffers as a result. Equally confounding is the lack of focus on the spice, which really should have been a "character" in its own right.
My other major gripe is with the score and pacing, which feed off one another. Pounding, rhythmic scores like Hans Zimmer's seem to be all the rage these days, but am I passé for wanting a melodic refrain that emotionally reinforces the climactic moments? Once it gets going, Zimmer's score never lets up and never gives the audience a chance to catch their breath. The pacing gets stuck in one speed with no time to dwell on the important moments, a surprising blunder for a director you would expect to know the value of varying pitch and tone. To be fair, Dune is not an easy book to adapt, and properly telling this tale probably required more runtime than the studio was willing to stomach. However, I still would have expected Villeneuve's passion for the material to run a bit deeper than surface level.
--
You can get more reviews from me at my substack Haremonious Sounds.