Dune Review by Jesus Morales Sandoval

Dune, the recently-released movie, is a pretty decent movie. Some parts I enjoyed were the CGI, the acting, and the fact it was very accessible.

First, the CGI was very good, there were a lot of scenes where some of the CGI looked so real; at some point they were blowing things up – that was probably my favorite scene – the explosions looked so fantastic, it was so fascinating, and the CGI for other things such as body shields, which were only broken when hit in specific spots, these spots were places that would kill you within seconds. The acting for a lot of characters was so good, I loved how mellow Timothee Chalamet was when he played the character Paul; he seemed so calm and relaxed, some of the characters also had really good acting, they played their roles really well, in my opinion. I also enjoyed how accessible to multiple audiences it was; you can watch it through HBO and in local theaters (some movies sometimes don’t do this because of contracts they have with actors, or other reasons).

Some things I didn’t like about Dune were things they didn’t really explain: why are they super futuristic but have metal blades to fight with? It’s not comparable to Star Wars because lightsabers can cut through anything. Also, they’re making multiple movies from just one book, if this movie took longer to release, but it was the full book, then I’d probably enjoy it more; the movie starts getting to a point where it’s understandable as to what the main idea is, but then it just cuts off with one of those overused lines of, “it’s just the beginning.” As for the main storyline, it’s kind of hard to remember, except for when you’re reminded; they don’t talk about it too often, but when they do, they make sure you know what the main idea is.

Another thing is the worms. They seemed like they’d be so important, or play some huge role. Even the trailer shows a lot of scenes with the worms. I wonder, was it just to show off the CGI, it just feels kind of random how they’re there but not too important, especially for their size, which I have another problem with. How and why are the worms so huge? How much do the worms eat, is there a certain point where they just die if they don’t eat enough, why don’t the worms get an explanation in the movie? You’d think for having something that humongous they would at least give an explanation to how they work. The only thing they really say about them is that they live there and that they’re attracted to specific noises.

Another problem we had (watching it in class) was the audio: at times the movie seemed too quiet, while at other times it was too loud. I hate when I have to turn the audio up on a movie for three reasons. First, sometimes the audio bar blocks something important or something that’ll be useful to remember later. Second, if the movie all of a sudden, for no reason, becomes really loud, then it’s going to hurt my ears. And third, having to turn it down, just to hope that they don’t randomly become quiet again is so annoying.

Story wise, the movie is okay at best, its usage of CGI was pretty good, I still have a grudge for the sword fights even though it’s a sci-fi movie, and the lack of the worms being explained. Overall, to me it was a 5.6/10. Maybe you have a different opinion; maybe you thought it was better or worse. If you do have a different opinion, comment what your thoughts were. Maybe there were a few things that went over my head that you can tell me about, something I missed, forgot, or just didn’t understand at all.