Dune: With just under two months to go before the movie Duna’s global premiere in theaters, the first reviews from journalists finally went live, right after the premiere of the film was shown at the 78th edition of the Venice International Film Festival, this Friday (3 ). This way, fans already have access to general impressions of the film through social networks and can find out if Denis Villeneuve’s feature delivers what it proposes.
Officially unveiled in the third quarter of 2020, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant young man who has a destiny far beyond his comprehension. Assigned to travel to the most hostile planet in the Universe to ensure the survival of his people, Paul finds himself in the midst of an unprecedented conflict and must seek wisdom and alliances to prevent the rise of evil forces.
An adaptation of Frank Herbert’s eponymous work, Dune had an extremely lively and celebrated announcement, as fans of the epic science fiction saga to this day try to forget about the disastrous 1984 adventure taken on by the iconic David Lynch.
In addition to this expectation, the direction of Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Sicario, The Suspicious) and an established cast with Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa and Javier Barden raised the hype ace heights, making the work one of the most anticipated in recent years.
Dune: what are the first critics commenting?
The first observations about Duna suggest that the work is technically exquisite, with visuals tending towards the absurd, sound and lighting effects worthy of cinematographic shows and photography techniques that transport the audience straight to the screen, even if there is no familiarity with the literary material. In addition, the performances of Chalamet (Paul Atreides), Momoa (Duncan) and Ferguson (Lady Jessica) were highly praised, with some journalists claiming they would be the best of their careers.
Dune is everything I wanted and more. I’m not very familiar with the books, but I found it an epic and engaging space opera with a surprising amount of pathos, absolutely beautiful visuals and the best performances in the careers of Timothée Chalamet and Jason Momoa. BRING PART 2!”
“I left Dune trembling. This is how people saw 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 must have felt for the first time. The magnitude of this thing is out of the ordinary. As surprised as you think you will be, multiply by ten.”
“Dune Part One. Jaw-dropping, beautiful to watch, elevates the experience. He pumps and pumps that spice through your veins. Ferguson is commanding, intense as ever. Chalamet does his best in this moderate-action role. chaos.”
Alert for inconsistencies
In parallel with the positive comments, experts reported a mildly negative experience after watching much of the work, indicating that the approximately 155-minute feature lacks rhythm inconsistencies between the second and third acts, becoming tiring in some points and presenting an idea of incompleteness. Check out what they say below.
“Perhaps the biggest problem with Dune, though, is that this is just the first part, with the second film in pre-production,” comments David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter. “That means a lot of what we’re watching feels like a laborious setup for a hopefully more exciting movie to come – the tedious homework before the juicy things start to happen.”
“As the movie starts to run out of tricks, it becomes dizzy and amorphous. Will Part II really come? This will happen if Part I is successful enough, and it won’t be forgotten. It’s hard to build a cliff in quicksand,” concludes Variety’s Owen Gleiberman.
Duna is scheduled to premiere on October 22, with simultaneous availability on HBO Max and and cinemas.
Check out the trailer below:
