“Dune’s” Special Effects Exceed Expectations

Film review

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dunemovie.com

Duke Leto Atreides I, played by Oscar Isaac, is the leader and father of Paul Atreides in the film.

Daniel Hampton, Staff Writer

“Dune” is a recent, powerful science fiction movie written by Jon Sphatis and Eric Roth, with stunning visual effects and acting.  Released in October of this year,  “Dune” is a set up for a soon-to-be series with “Dune: Part Two” coming in 2023.

The movie really only covers the first of the book series, but still did it in a decent way.

Each scene, visual effect, costume, and line of dialogue has detail etched into it, and you can really see how much effort and care the director, Denis Villeneuve, and the actors put in.

The set design was of high quality, with a few flaws that still accurately portrayed the desert planet that was created by the original “Dune” book.

The film tended to struggle with pacing, though, making it difficult to attach to the characters and it made me become bored and disinterested in the later half of the film.

My biggest problem with the film was probably the shooting and the camera angles. The camera often felt too close or too far from the scene, removing the sense of immersion I had earlier on while watching. 

The length felt unnecessary also. I argue the movie could be reduced to 1 hour and 45 minutes while still including important plot points and saving production costs.  

A spice worker is attacked by the sandworm. (dunemovie.com)

Some of the CG was also extremely distracting, despite the estimated 165 million dollar budget. It often looked too realistic or the CG was obviously CG and removed my attachment to the characters in these scenes.

Despite its flaws, it is still a decent film that did a decent job as the first movie in a series, and I can’t wait to see what comes next. My final score is a 6/10.