The sci-fi epic “Dune” boasts a few films’ worth of giant sandworms, amazing spaceships, cosmic armies and galactic political drama, though it essentially is only half a movie.
Denis Villeneuve brings an epic sci-fi vision to new ‘Dune’ trailer
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Director Denis Villeneuve’s visually arresting big-budget adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic – well, a good bit of the novel anyway – is an odd bird and a mixed bag. “Dune” (★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters and on HBO Max Oct. 22) is impressively ambitious in scale, like Villeneuve mashing up the worlds of “Star Wars” and “Game of Thrones,” but with that unmistakable signature style he showcased with “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049.”
While the film (currently playing the film-festival circuit, hopping from Venice to Toronto to New York) has a lot going for it, including a pretty stellar cast, real-world metaphors and an intriguing twist on a war-movie aesthetic, it’s lacking in character development, and aspects of the book’s substantial mythology are tossed in to keep your head swimming over 2½ hours.
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In the year 10191, the noble House of Atreides – led by Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) – is tapped to relocate from the rather pleasant planet of Caladan to dangerous, desert-filled Arrakis to oversee the mining of Spice, a precious resource that does wonders for human existence and makes interstellar travel possible, and to tame the indigenous Fremen. Leto’s teenage son, Paul (Timothée Chalamet), has had vivid dreams of this new place – specifically a young Fremen girl with shining blue eyes named Chani (Zendaya) – and this phenomenon has brought extra attention from the Bene Gesserit, an all-female order with superpowers including Paul’s warrior priestess mom, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).
Paul is seen in some circles as a messiah, so he’s caught between an ancient prophecy and being an heir to a renowned house. Their rivals in villainous House Harkonnen – including Baron Harkonnen (a near-unrecognizable Stellan Skarsgard), a slovenly mix of Jabba the Hutt, Colonel Kurtz and the Emperor from “Star Wars” – were Spice stewards for 80 years, and they’re out to sabotage their successors. And the Fremen, led by the enigmatic Stilgar (Javier Bardem), are the most unpredictable wild cards of them all, though they loom large in Paul’s story.
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Alongside themes of ecology and colonialism, the movie boasts plenty of factions and personalities, though good luck actually investing in any of them. Chalamet’s a talented actor, but Paul’s a tortured, broody sort, while Isaac and Ferguson do what they can with fairly dry parental figures.
Everything’s overly serious in “Dune,” though the guy who’s most enjoyable (and has the best name) is Jason Momoa as Atreides sword master Duncan Idaho, a fearless warrior loyal to his crew yet absolutely joyful whenever his old student Paul is around. Also noteworthy is Dr. Liet Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), a gender-swapped Fremen figure from the Herbert book who works for the emperor (yes, “Dune” has one of those, too) transitioning Arrakis to Atreides’ control.
The other issue for Paul and Co. is that there’s much more to their tale not in this movie. Unlike, say, the horror film “It,” where the first film stood as a singular story and you didn’t have to see its sequel, “Dune” doesn’t: It gets to a point and just ends, not to mention being extremely anticlimactic. Imagine watching the original “Star Wars” if they blew up the Death Star midway through and then Luke Skywalker tussled with a few Tusken Raiders in the finale. (George Lucas was influenced by “Dune,” and audiences will find the use of “the Voice,” a psychic ability wielded by Paul and his mother, to be very Force-like, though there is some striking sonic originality here.)
Even with its imperfections, “Dune” as an experience is awesome, with astounding special effects, great production design and a propulsive Hans Zimmer score. Insect/helicopter hybrid vehicles buzz around, Paul’s frequent future visions add a mysteriously neat vibe, and it’s hard to beat scarily mawed sandworms that could stretch across quite a few football fields.
You’ll just need to hope for a “Dune” sequel – or head to the books – for it all to make sense. Sure, it’s got Spice, but better storytelling would be nice.
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“Afterlife of the Party” (Sept. 2, Netflix): The comedy stars Victoria Justice as a social butterfly who dies during her birthday week but is given a chance to prove herself worthy of being heavenly if she rights her wrongs and reconnects with loved ones.
“Los Últimos Frikis” (VOD, Sept. 2): The documentary tells the story of the Cuban heavy metal band Zeus, which formed in the 1980s when rock music was illegal under Fidel Castro’s communist government and paid a price for being a counter-cultural phenomenon.
“The Gateway” (Sept. 3, theaters and VOD): Shea Whigham stars in the crime thriller film as a down-on-his-luck social worker who tries to protect his client and her family from her recently paroled husband, a maniacal drug dealer.
“It Takes Three” (Sept. 3, VOD): In the romantic comedy, Jared Gilman (right) plays a nerd enlisted by the coolest guy in school to take over his social-media accounts and impress the new girl (Aurora Perrineau).
“Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (Sept. 3, theaters): Jon Jon (Ronny Chieng, left) introduces Katy (Awkwafina) and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) to a very over-the-top Chinese fight club along the way to facing off against Shang-Chi’s antagonist father in the Marvel martial-arts adventure.
“Worth” (Sept. 3, Netflix): The biopic stars Michael Keaton (right, with Stanley Tucci) as the accomplished lawyer tasked by Congress to allocate financial compensation to victims and calculate the loss involved with the 9/11 tragedy.
“Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali” (Sept. 9, Netflix): Featuring never-before-seen footage, the documentary examines the friendship of intellectual revolutionary Malcolm X (left) and outspoken Olympic champion Muhammad Ali and what drew them together.
“The Capote Tapes” (Sept. 10, theaters; Oct. 26, VOD): Audio archives and interviews dig into the life and work of Truman Capote, including a look at what was meant to be his masterpiece – a look at New York high society – and was anything but.
“The Card Counter” (Sept. 10, theaters): Cirk (Tye Sheridan, left) is an angry young man who seeks out William Tell (Oscar Isaac), an ex-serviceman turned gambler, to exact revenge on a military colonel in writer/director Paul Schrader’s thriller.
“Come From Away” (Sept. 10, Apple TV+): The movie is a live performance of the Broadway musical, which tells the story of how a small town in Newfoundland welcomed 7,000 passengers into their community when flights into the USA were grounded on 9/11.
“Dating & New York” (Sept. 10, theaters and VOD): Jaboukie Young-White stars in the romantic comedy as a young man who has a meet-cute with a fellow jaded New Yorker on a dating app and they navigate the ups and downs of a modern relationship.
“Language Lessons” (Sept. 10, theaters): Natalie Morales directs and stars as an online Spanish teacher who forms a close bond over video chat with an adult student after he suffers a tragic loss in his life.
“Queenpins” (Sept. 10, theaters; Sept. 30, Paramount+): The comedy centers on a frustrated suburban homemaker (Kristen Bell) and her vlogging bestie (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) who turn their coupon-saving hobby into a multi-million-dollar counterfeit caper.
“The Voyeurs” (Sept. 10, Amazon Prime): Sydney Sweeney stars in the thriller as part of a young couple who move into their dream apartment, witness the volatile relationship of the attractive lovers across the street, and unfortunately get involved in the neighbors’ lives.
“Best Sellers” (Sept. 17, theaters and VOD): In the literary-themed comedy, Michael Caine plays a grumpy, boozy author who embarks on a book tour from hell with his latest novel to help save the struggling publishing house he put on the map decades earlier.
“Blue Bayou” (Sept. 17, theaters): Played by Justin Chon (who also writes and directs), a Korean adoptee raised in a small Louisiana town in the Louisiana bayou and married to the love of his life (Alicia Vikander) has to confront his past when facing possible deportation.
“Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster” (Sept. 17, theaters): Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro is one of the luminaries interviewed in the documentary about the original “Frankenstein” star’s life, legacy and enduring influence.
“Copshop” (Sept. 17, theaters): A hitman (Gerard Butler) and a Nevada rookie police officer (Alexis Louder) have to work together to survive a rival hired killer and an increasingly explosive situation in director Joe Carnahan’s action thriller.
“Cry Macho” (Sept. 17, theaters and HBO Max): Clint Eastwood (left) directs and stars in the poignant drama as a Texas rodeo legend who takes a job from an ex-boss to bring his young son (Eduardo Minett) back home from Mexico.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” (Sept. 17, Amazon): Inspired by true events, the musical drama stars Max Harwood as a Sheffield teenager who dreams of becoming a drag queen and, with the help of his best friend (Lauren Patel), inspires his community.
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Sept. 17, theaters): The biopic stars Jessica Chastain as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, who in the 1970s and ’80s with her husband Jim founded the world’s largest religious broadcasting network only to watch their empire crumble.
“Lady of the Manor” (Sept. 17, theaters and VOD): Melanie Lynskey stars in the supernatural buddy comedy as a slacker hired to portray a 19th-century Southern belle at a historic manor but the actual lady’s ghost shows up to set her on the right path.
“Little Girl” (Sept. 17, theaters): The documentary follows a 7-year-old French child named Sasha who’s always known that she is a girl and her family’s embrace of their daughter’s gender identity amid outdated norms in their rural community.
“The Mad Women’s Ball” (Sept. 17, Amazon Prime): In the historical drama, Lou de Laâge (bottom) stars as a Parisian woman committed to an institution when she claims to communicate with spirits and Melanie Laurent (who also directs) plays the nurse who looks out for her.
“My Name is Pauli Murray” (Sept. 17, theaters; Oct. 1, Amazon Prime): The documentary chronicles the pioneering work of Murray, a Black woman raised in the segregated South who was an early civil rights and women’s rights advocate as well as an attorney, priest and author.
“Nightbooks” (Sept. 17, Netflix): Based on the J.A. White book, the kid-friendly horror film stars Winslow Fegley as a New York boy imprisoned by an evil witch (Krysten Ritter) and forced to tell her a new scary story every night to survive.
“The Nowhere Inn” (Sept. 17, theaters and VOD): The meta mockumentary stars Annie Clark (aka Grammy-winning musician St. Vincent) as herself as she sets out to do an autobiographical film about an artist’s life that turns very strange.
“Prisoners of the Ghostland” (Sept. 17, theaters and VOD): Nicolas Cage stars in the action fantasy as a bank robber sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord, strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, and tasked to find the guy’s adopted granddaughter.
“Godspeed, Los Polacos!” (Sept. 21, VOD): Director Adam Nawrot’s documentary follows five Polish university students who escaped the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War to go on an epic kayaking expedition in the Americas.
“Intrusion” (Sept. 22, Netflix): The thriller stars Freida Pinto as a wife who’s traumatized by a home invasion after she and her husband move into a small town, and in the aftermath she becomes suspicious of everyone around her.
“Apache Junction” (Sept. 24, theaters and VOD): Country music star Trace Adkins stars in the Western action thriller about a big-city journalist who lands in a town full of thieves and killers though is aided by a notorious gunslinger.
“Birds of Paradise” (Sept. 24, Amazon Prime): The ballet drama stars Diana Silvers an an American dancer at a prestigious Paris school who competes with friends and enemies alike for a chance to perform with the Opéra National de Paris.
“Dear Evan Hansen” (Sept. 24, theaters): Reprising his Tony-winning role from the Broadway production, Ben Platt stars as a troubled high school senior on a journey of self-discovery after a classmate’s suicide in the musical drama.
“The Guilty” (Sept. 24, theaters; Oct. 1, Netflix): Taking place over a single morning, the Antoine Fuqua action drama stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a 911 dispatch operator who tries to save a caller in grave danger, though the situation isn’t what it seems.
“The Most Beautiful Boy In The World” (Sept. 24, theaters): The documentary examines one filmmaker’s pursuit in 1970 to find the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty and the shy 15-year-old teen catapulted to international fame overnight.
“My Little Pony: A New Generation” (Sept. 24, Netflix): The kid-friendly franchise is rebooted with a new bunch of pals – Hitch (voiced by James Marsden, far left), Zipp (Liza Koshy), Pipp (Sofia Carson), Sunny (Vanessa Hudgens) and Izzy (Kimiko Glenn) – out to restore magic to the ponyverse.
“No One Gets Out Alive” (Sept. 29, Netflix): The horror film stars Cristina Rodlo as an immigrant forced to stay in a boarding house while seeking out the American dream and instead winding up in a nightmare she can’t escape.
“Sounds Like Love” (Sept. 29. Netflix): The Spanish comedy centers on a woman (Maria Valverde) finally getting her act together when she’s reunited with the dude (Alex Gonzalez) who smashed her heart into a million pieces.
“The Addams Family 2” (Oct. 1, theaters): Pugsley (voiced by Javon Walton) is up to his explosive shenanigans again as he, sister Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz), mom Morticia (Charlize Theron) and dad (Oscar Isaac) go on a family vacation in the animated sequel.
“Diana: The Musical” (Oct. 1, Netflix): Jeanna de Waal (center) stars as the title British princess in a live filmed production of the new musical – recorded last summer under COVID-19 protocols – that arrives for home audiences before the show opens on Broadway in November.
“Falling for Figaro” (Oct. 1, theaters): In the musical comedy, Danielle Macdonald plays a fund manager who leaves everything behind to travel to Scotland and become an opera singer, facing off with another student (Hugh Skinner) in a high-profile competition.
The Many Saints of Newark” (Oct. 1, theaters and HBO Max): New Jersey mobster Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola, right, with Michela De Rossi) is a formative figure for his nephew – and future crime boss – Tony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) in a prequel to “The Sopranos.”
“Old Henry” (Oct. 1, theaters): In the Western action film, Tim Blake Nelson plays a widowed father with a secret gunslinging ability forced to decide who to trust: an injured stranger with a stash of cash or the posse coming for him claiming to be lawmen.
“Stop and Go” (Oct. 1, theaters): Before their reckless older sibling (Julia Jolley, far left) can get there, two ride-or-die sisters (Whitney Call and Mallory Everton) go on a hilarious cross-country quest to rescue their grandmother after a COVID outbreak in her nursing home.
“Witch Hunt” (Oct. 1, theaters and VOD): Sadie Stratton stars in the horror thriller, which imagines a modern-day America where magic is real, witches are persecuted and hunted by federal authorities, and an intricate network helps women escape and seek asylum in Mexico.
“Pharma Bro” (Oct. 5, VOD): The documentary profiles controversial pharmaceutical tycoon Martin Shkreli and also examines the 21st-century rise of toxic masculinity, bro culture and online trolling.
“Golden Voices” (Oct. 8, theaters): Vladimir Friedman stars in the comedy as a beloved Soviet film dubber forced to reinvent himself after the collapse of the USSR, and after immigrating to Israel, he befriends a bunch of black market film pirates.
“Lamb” (Oct. 8, theaters): In the unnerving folk tale, a newborn sheep unlike the rest of her flock is taken in and raised by a childless Icelandic couple as their own, though sinister dark forces seem determined to return her to the wilderness.
“Mass” (Oct. 8, theaters): Martha Plimpton (left) and Ann Dowd are two mothers forever changed because of a school shooting and they meet years later to find a way to move on in a drama about grief, anger and acceptance.
“No Time to Die” (Oct. 8, theaters): The latest 007 spy film finds British secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) hitting the bar and getting an assist from CIA agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) in dealing with a new high-tech international terrorist.
“South of Heaven” (Oct. 8, theaters and VOD): Jason Sudeikis stars in the drama as a convicted felon who gets an early parole after serving 12 years for armed robbery, and he vows to give his terminally ill childhood love (Evangeline Lilly) the best year of her life.
“Survive the Game” (Oct. 8, theaters and VOD): The crime thriller stars Chad Michael Murray as a troubled vet Eric helping out a couple of cops who wind up at his farm on the run from a gang of drug-dealing mobsters.
“The Cleaner” (Oct. 12, VOD): The crime drama stars Luke Wilson (left) and King Orba, the latter who plays a middle-aged house cleaner roped into tracking down the estranged son of his eccentric new client.
“Hall” (Oct. 12, VOD): Kayo Yasuhara (left) and Yumiko Shaku play tourists who have to traverse a hotel hallway where a mysterious and debilitating virus has spread and created terrifying carnage in the horror film.
“Crutch” (Oct. 14, Discovery+): The documentary profiles cutting-edge performance artist Bill Shannon, who was born with a degenerative hip condition but developed an innovative way to express himself through dancing and skateboarding on crutches.
“Bergman Island” (Oct. 15, theaters; Oct. 22, VOD): The drama stars Vicky Krieps and Tim Roth as a filmmaking couple who retreat to a mythical Baltic sea island where Ingmar Bergman lived and shot his most celebrated movies to find inspiration for their own projects.
“Halloween Kills” (Oct. 15, theaters): Left reeling after their last run-in with Michael Myers, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, left) and daughter Karen (Judy Greer) lead a vigilante mob to bury the masked maniac for good in the horror sequel.
“The Last Duel” (Oct. 15, theaters): Jodie Comer stars as Marguerite de Carrouges, a knight’s wife who causes a stir when she accuses her husband’s friend of rape in director Ridley Scott’s 14th-century historical drama, co-starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
“Needle in a Timestack” (Oct. 15, theaters and VOD): The near-future love story centers on Nick (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Janine (Cynthia Erivo), a couple living in married bliss until Janine’s ex-husband warps time to try to tear them apart using Nick’s college girlfriend.
“Only the Animals” (Oct. 15, theaters): The thriller focuses on the disappearance of a housewife Evelyne Ducat (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, right, with Nadia Tereszkiewicz) in the French highlands and the secret connections between five people inextricably linked to her.
“Son of Monarchs” (Oct. 15, theaters; TBA, HBO Max): After his grandmother’s death, a Mexican biologist (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) living in New York returns to his home among butterfly forests to confront past traumas.
“Runt” (Oct. 1, theaters, Oct. 19 VOD): In the thriller about a group of neglected and misguided high-school seniors, the late Cameron Boyce has his final role playing a teen who takes a stand after a troubling incident and suffers devastating consequences.
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (Oct. 15, theaters): Incarcerated serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) is transformed into the vicious monster known as Carnage in the superhero sequel starring Tom Hardy and directed by Andy Serkis.
“Night Teeth” (Oct. 20, Netflix): The young-adult thriller stars Lucy Fry (left) and Debby Ryan as two mysterious party-hopping women who reveal their true shadowy nature to an unassuming chauffeur.
“Dune” (Oct. 22, in theaters and on HBO Max): A young man with a big destiny, Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet, far right) travels to a planet with a precious resource and, alongside his mom Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), finds allies in Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Javier Bardem) in the sci-fi epic.
“The French Dispatch” (Oct. 22, theaters): Benicio del Toro stars as a murderous painter in Wes Anderson’s latest ensemble film, which brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine based in a fictional 20th-century French city.
“Jackass Forever” (Oct. 22, theaters): Johnny Knoxville (far left), Sean McInerny, Rachel Wolfson and Steve-O are up to their old stunts and shenanigans in the comedy, including getting up close and personal with a venomous Western diamondback rattlesnake.
“The Harder They Fall” (Oct. 22, theaters; Nov. 3, Netflix): In the Western drama with a largely Black cast, Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) is an outlaw who reunites his gang to seek revenge when his rival is released from prison.
“Ron’s Gone Wrong” (Oct. 22, theaters): Barney (voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer), a socially awkward middle-schooler, and his glitchy robot pal Ron (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) find adventure and a journey of friendship in the animated comedy.
“Antlers” (Oct. 29, theaters): In the horror drama, a middle-school teacher (Keri Russell, center) and her sheriff brother (Jesse Plemons) seek help from a local man (Graham Greene) about an ancestral creature on the loose in their Oregon town.
“Army Of Thieves” (Oct. 29, Netflix): In a prequel to Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead,” a small-town bank teller (Matthias Schweighöfer) is recruited by a mysterious woman (Nathalie Emmanuel) for a series of safe-cracking heists across Europe.
“13 Minutes” (Oct. 29, theaters and VOD): Thora Birch (far left) stars in the drama about four families struggling to survive, overcome their differences and find their loved ones when a tornado ravages their Midwestern town.
“Snakehead” (Oct. 29, theaters and VOD): Sung Kang stars in the crime thriller, which centers on an Asian immigrant who arrives in New York’s Chinatown and gets embroiled in a human trafficking syndicate searching for her lost child.
“The Spine of Night” (Oct. 29. theaters and VOD): Kestrelwren (voiced by Abigail Savage) is one of the many colorful characters in the ultra-violent fantasy epic, where heroes band together when an ancient dark magic falls into the wrong hands.
75/75 SLIDES
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Review: Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic ‘Dune’ is a mixed bag of eye-popping sci-fi, lackluster storytelling
