‘Dune’ Review: As Good As The Sum of its Parts

In yet another remake from the 80s, Dune makes its way back onto the nostalgia train and into the pop culture collective memory. For the record, this is the second film but the fourth adaptation of Frank Herbert’s award-winning novels. This is the second movie remake for director Denis Villeneuve and he does not disappoint as a filmmaker. There is grand and sweeping cinematography mixed in with intimate performances from seasoned actors. Dune had everything it needed out of the gate and gains so much momentum on the strength of its direction. Y’all, it does the original vision justice. Denis Villeneuve holds the line in another sci-fi remake. Listen, he’s got a style, it worked in Blade Runner 2049 and it is even more refined in Dune. Highly contrasted between the extremes of light and dark in each shot. There’s a high level of creativity and intention all throughout the film. It would be easy to just glaze over the undertaking by calling it ‘a love letter’. Nah fam, there were so many obviously deliberate choices and painstaking details that the movie really does just vibrate with the resonance of Villeneuve’s signature style. Zendaya (as Chani), Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures (2021) Casting is loaded but not at all overdrawn. A lot of heavy hitters in this cast. While Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya are top-billed and do the damn thing in their roles, my goodness, everyone else carries this first outing. Everyone understood the assignment. Rebecca Fergusson as Lady J…