DUNE (full review at Screen Realm)

Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune is a science fiction classic, whose influence is felt throughout the genre and beyond. Fresh off the back of his own sci-fi masterpiece, the sublime Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve has proved to be the perfect choice to adapt it.

House Atreides, a powerful ruling house in the Imperium, is ordered by Emperor Shaddam IV to leave their homeworld, Caladan, and relocate to the desert planet Arrakis, otherwise known as Dune. The Atreides are to oversee the production of spice, the most valuable substance in the universe. The spice enables Guild Navigators to find a path through the stars and is thus, the key to space travel.

Arrakis’ population centres cover only a small portion of the surface, with the majority of the planet a deep, inhospitable desert occupied only by the indigenous Fremen and the mighty, leviathan sandworms. 

House Atreides inherits the stewardship of Arrakis from their sworn enemies, the brutal and merciless House Harkonnen. Led by the megalomaniacal Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), they have overseen spice production with an iron fist, brutalizing the local population. The Atreides, led by Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and their son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) travel to the desert world seeking an alliance with the Fremen, and to avoid the multitude of Harkonnen traps they expect to encounter.  

Read the full review at Screen Realm:

https://www.screenrealm.com/dune-movie-review-2021-denis-villeneuve/

IMDB: Dune