Dune Part One

Mild Spoilers for Dune to follow.

It is by some happenstance that I came into Dune without ever reading the book or seeing any previous adaptation. I hadn’t done this on purpose, it’s just one of those things. Despite my lack of attachment to the source material, I found myself dying to see this new version simply as a fan of director Denis Villeneuve. After a run that includes Prisoners, Sicario, Enemy, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve movies have earned the esteemed Event Status in this here household, and expectations were high.

Look, maybe I’m a basic bitch, but I straight up loved Dune. Everything about it. The cast, the visuals, the score, the world building, all of it.

But most of all, I loved seeing a new Villeneuve movie. The man jumps from genre to genre with ease, crafting classics including thrillers, drug cartel dramas, an emotional movie about aliens and a legacy sci fi sequel. With Dune, Denis tackles the space opera, and it’s every bit as good as anything the director has done before.

One of the most impressive things about Dune is the absolute impeccable world building going on. Not since The Fellowship of the Ring has a movie been so successful at laying groundwork while also advancing the story and characters in an entertaining and easy to understand way. There is plenty of exposition, of course, but I mean there has to be in a movie like this, and thankfully it never feels like the movie is stopping in its tracks to get the audience up to speed.

It doesn’t hurt when you’ve got a cast that includes Timothèe Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Starsgård, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem plus a little Zendaya and Dave Bautista for ya, as a treat. Every actor, no matter how big the part, stands out, with little Tim being an effective lead. The kid holds the movie on his shoulders like he’s done it 1000 times before, and still gives an amazing performance to boot.

And although this is just part one of two (as I wrote this review news broke about Part Two being officially greenlit!), the movie still feels whole, avoiding the itch to leave on a straight up cliffhanger and instead simply implying that this is just the beginning.

Bring on Part Two, baby. Papa’s ready.