by James Coulter
Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi epic Dune has long been considered an unfilmable story due to its grandiose length and scale. Then again, the same was said of Lord of the Rings, which is roughly the same length. So, if Lord of the Rings could be successfully adapted, why not Dune?
That question has been asked many times before, as attempts have been made before to bring Dune to screens big and small. David Lynch famously filmed his theatrical adaptation in 1984, which, while now a cult classic, was then a financial and critical flop. The SyFy Channel attempted another adaptation with a mini-series in 2000.
Now, nearly 20 years later, acclaimed film director Denis Villeneuve has taken up the challenge to bring Dune to the big screen with a multi-part film series. Part 2 was recently released in theaters. But what about the first part? Did Part 1 justify creating a Part 2? Or should the first movie have been left in the desert to be eaten by sand worms?
Young Willy Wonka* is the heir apparent to a royal house. His family has been sent to Space Iraq to oversee the mining of Space LSD. However, it turns out they were sent there as a trap so that the other royal family, led by Drax the Destroyer, could kill them and take over. Now, Young Willy Wonka, along with the help of his companions, Aquaman and Thanos, must go on a journey to avenge his father.
Complicating matters is that Young Willy Wonka is seen as the Space Messiah by the native inhabitants of Space Iraq. The reason being his mother is part of a line of Space Nuns who are prophesized to bring about the birth of the Space Messiah. As such, he has special powers, including clairvoyant dream that give him visions of MJ from Spider-Man, who may or may not be tied to his destiny. Can Wonka avenge his family while avoiding a Space Holy War in the process? (Also, the giant butthole worms that live on that planet?)
Dune is a story set in a fantastical sci-fi setting that is simultaneously otherworldly yet familiar. For example, on the desert planet which the main story takes place, people wear special suits that keeps them hydrated them by recycling their bodily fluids, and they fly in gyrocopters that look and fly like dragonflies. However, the overall setting looks and feels like the Middle East. (Hence the glib remark about it being Space Iraq!)
Far from being yet another sci-fi action thriller, Dune is more like Star Wars meets Game of Thrones with a heavier focus on political struggle and infighting, as multiple factions vie for control over a planet and its precious resources. In fact, while the setting is otherworldly, the subtext remains rather on the nose about this world’s politics. After all, the story takes place in a desert setting whose people and resources are exploited by an imperialist empire for the sake of profit. (Sadly, not much about the Middle East has changed since Frank Herbert’s original story that it remains pertinently relevant today!)
Cinematically, the first movie is a visual marvel with grandiose thematic settings and which weaves an intricate web of lore and backstory to develop a fleshed-out world filled with intriguing characters all with their own unique motivations. Unfortunately, the entire movie is a
real slowburn with mostly consists of all setup and no real payoff–well, that is, until the next movie, that is.
How can I best describe this movie? Imagine you’re in a D&D session. Your DM spends an hour and a half explaining in excruciating detail the backstory of your game’s settings, its characters, and the overall objective of your campaign moving forward. Then, right when you finally expect to start playing the game, they announce, “Okay, come back next week and we’ll actually play the game this time.”
That’s how watching this movie feels!
Dune: Part 1 spends most of its time setting up the story, and takes most of its time doing so that what little plot moves at a snails pace without much else happening. Some people could compare this movie to Fellowship of the Ring, but, really, it feels more like if that movie consisted of the first act stretched out to the same three-jour runtime and ending with Frodo leaving the Shire. All set up, no pay off, and blatantly telling you to come back next time for the rest of the story which promises to be more interesting.
So, yeah, Dune: Part 1 is a good prologue to what will hopefully be a better, more interesting movie. Let’s hope Part 2 lives up to the hype this movie gave it.
*Yes, I know these characters have real names, but it’s funnier to refer to them by the other characters that their actors have played.
