‘Dune’ Is the Reason to Go Back to the Movie Theater
This might be controversial, but a lot of films that are released in IMAX don’t really need to be enjoyed in IMAX for maximum impact. Film nerd blasphemy, I know. Certainly, a lot of big directors would disagree and it can definitely be argued that seeing a filmmaker’s original vision is the most important part of viewing a movie, but I think a good story is a good story no matter how you watch it. That said, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is a movie that definitely deserves to be seen in IMAX.
Adapted from the classic Frank Herbert novels, the story is complex and spans planets and cultures, so it’s not exactly easy to explain in a brief synopsis. Basically, way off into the future, society is operating in a feudal system that sees great houses controlling planets. The most important one is Arrakis, a Tatooine-like desert planet that is home to the Fremen and the source of spice, the most valuable substance in the universe. Spice expands the mind and it’s basically the driving force behind interstellar travel, so control of Arrakis is a very big deal.
Previously, the planet was controlled by the brutal Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) of the powerful House Harkonnen, but the emperor has just handed it over to Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), leader of House Atreides, enemies of house Harkonnen. As you would imagine, conflict ensues and soon the duke’s son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) find themselves escaping into the dangerous desert to encounter Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen and take a stand against House Harkonnen.
The film has a massive cast of top-notch actors including Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, and so many more, each turning in a great performance here. Brolin and Momoa are particularly impressive, bringing layers and depth to characters that can’t command huge amounts of screen time in such a massive story. And I’ll admit, the dorky part of me was pretty psyched to see Momoa kicking ass with some swords like an all-grown-up Ronon Dex from Stargate: Atlantis.
Dune was such a seminal work that it influenced so much of the sci-fi and fantasy we see today. After years of stories inspired by this one, it’s awesome to see it brought to the screen with such insanely high production value and skill. Obviously, Star Wars takes a lot of inspiration from the series, but the warring houses and double-crossing also feel like the best parts of Game of Thrones. Combine that with the enormous scale and epic feel from the biggest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and you have a film that is basically tailor-made for a hungry audience who wants a little more substance with their CGI.
And oh, what CGI! There’s not a frame of this film that isn’t stunningly beautiful to look at and Villeneuve continues to prove that he’s a master of making CGI feel tangible, as we saw with the shell ships in Arrival. Here, the ships also feel like they’re so much more than pixels and it lends a really fascinating realism to such a fantastical, futuristic story. The gigantic, overwhelming scale of these objects also extends to the sandworms, who have been imagined in various adaptations throughout the years, but take on a lamprey-like appearance here that makes them genuinely frightening, like an enormous whirlpool filled with teeth that can glide through the sand. I can’t think of one other film where enormous things have felt like they were really there in the way they do in Dune.
So if you’ve been understandably hesitant to return to the theater and you’re waiting for a film that is truly worthy of a gigantic IMAX screen, Dune is the one you’ve been waiting for.
