Dune (2021)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Paul Atreides	Timothée Chalamet
Lady Jessica	Rebecca Ferguson
Duke Leto Atreides	Oscar Isaac
Gurney Halleck	Josh Brolin	-
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen	Stellan Skarsgård	½
Glossu Rabban	Dave Bautista	-
Thufir Hawat	Stephen McKinley Henderson	-
Chani	Zendaya	-
Piter De Vries	David Dastmalchian	½
Dr. Wellington Yueh	Chang Chen
Dr. Liet-Kynes	Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Gaius Helen Mohiam	Charlotte Rampling	-
Duncan Idaho	Jason Momoa
Stilgar	Javier Bardem

Review

An hour of loitering and talkative power struggles and politics kicks off this adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert's "Dune". Interspersed are wonderfully expressive shots of the landscapes and structures of the worlds of the renowned novel. But while these help set the stage for a story of epic proportions, director Denis Villeneuve's sluggish pacing and overelaborate storytelling make this film a rather unengaging, detached experience. Despite a whopping (and soporific)  groundwork taking up half the film's running time, the characters remain stuck to the page, and Timothée Chalamet's beautiful face stays just a beautiful face, except in a couple of scenes of real emotional and narrative intensity. Chalamet plays Paul Atreides, the heir to the House Atreides, who may or may not be "the one". Yes, it's the familiar Messiah concept. And yes, it has potential in Herbert's vision, especially the aspects which connects his powers to his mother's lineage. Unfortunately, Villeneuve and his production company don't really want to tell you the story as much as they want to give you a CGI overdose and transport you safely to their faux cliffhanger so that you'll become hooked and come back to watch the sequel. "This is only the beginning", says Zendaya at the very end. Take her word for it. You don't need to see this film, you can safely wait for the next one. Or, perhaps better still, see David Lynch's 1984 version.