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Dune (2021)

 


Dune is the sci-fi political epic that inspired Star Wars. This remake was reimagined by Denis Villeneuve, who is easily becoming one of my favorite modern directors.

Written and directed by Denis Villeneuve, Dune is atmospheric and meticulous. Everything has meaning and purpose. Nothing feels out of place, and the political drama isn't expository. That was something I was worried about going into the film. Villeneuve took the leadership to make a sequel to one of the best sci-fi movies of all time Blade Runner, and perhaps lightning does strike twice.

Academy Award nominee Timothee Chalamet, who is probably be known for Call Me by Your Name, needed to have his acting on point throughout the movie since there are so many close-ups of him to portray such a complicated but easily understood character. He's supposed to feel unimpressive at first and grows as a character to fulfill the arc that is asked of him. I couldn't think of a better cast for Paul Atreides.

There is such a large cast for this film, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, and even Javier Bardem. Some of which I totally lose them in their character, especially Bardem and Skarsgard. Even if his role was diminished for returns on the sequel since this epic was broken into two parts. 

You might be wondering why I didn't mention Rebecca Ferguson and that's because I wanted to talk about her particularly. She wasn't given much to act on in Mission Impossible and she did well in Doctor Sleep, and my thoughts on Reminiscence should probably stay silent. But, in this film I can say she gives her best effort and you can really tell her acting lessons are starting to pay off. This won't be the film that gives her an oscar nomination but I could see her being cast in an oscar movie one of these days because of how much she has grown.

I was glad I had played the board game Dune Imperium before watching this movie as there are a lot of different terms that might lose some of the audience. I haven't read the book or seen the original movie, shocker I know, but perhaps now would be a good time to go back and read the book. 

I haven't felt this way about a movie since 2019 which feels so far away now. Easy A in my book.

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