Building the House of Atreides

‘Dune’ film adaptation exceeds expectations

The+%E2%80%98Dune%E2%80%99+movie+was+released+on+Oct.+22.+It+is+available+to+watch+in+theaters+and+on+HBO+Max.

Screen Rant

The ‘Dune’ movie was released on Oct. 22. It is available to watch in theaters and on HBO Max.

Bethany Mann, Staff Writer

It’s official, I’m in love with Timothée Chalamet.

The 25-year-old actor plays the main character, Paul Atriedes, in the new film adaptation of the novel “Dune” by Frank Herbert.  The series is probably the most complicated science fiction world to exist, but I’m in love with it.

The story takes place in the year 10191, and, to my understanding, there is an alliance between 10 planets, each with their own house, ruled by a Duke. All of these houses are under the control of the Emperor.

The movie starts off with the House of Atreides, which rules over the planet of Caladan, signing an agreement with the emperor that they will have control over the planet Arrakis which previously belonged to the House of Harkonnen, rulers of the planet Giedi Prime. Paul is the son of Leto, Duke of the House of Atreides.

The planet Arrakis only consists of deserts. These deserts contain a resource, spice, needed for interstellar travel. The House of Harkonnen had been taking advantage of the planet and its habitants, the Fremen. But Leto has made it his mission to bring peace to the planet.

The character of Paul is the “Lisan al Gaib” which means “the voice from the outer world.” The Fremen believe him to be their messiah who is going to bring them to safety.

Throughout “Dune,” Paul has visions of a Fremen girl, played by Zendaya. Because of these visions, Paul knows everything about the Fremen without even trying. As his powers progressed, I found myself on my toes, waiting to see what would happen next.

The film itself felt very slow. The original book is almost 1000 pages long, so they split the movies into two. Because of this, the two and a half hour film was almost all exposition. But by the time it finally started to pick up, I couldn’t stop watching.

I myself have never read the books, though now I find myself wanting to. I’ve heard from fans of the series that the movie was an accurate representation of the book, and that the visuals of the film fit the author’s description perfectly.

The director of “Dune,” Denis Villanueva, is a fan of the series himself. Since the age of 14, he has been dreaming of adapting the book into a film. The “Dune” fandom has him to thank for the new, accurate adaptation.

Every actor’s performance was phenomenal. Sometimes I forget how talented Timothée is. It was also a pleasant surprise to see Jason Momoa as the character of Duncan.

The chemistry between the entire cast, especially with Paul and his mother, made the movie feel so much more real. I truly felt for the characters.

My main critique for “Dune” is how it was promoted. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya were the faces of the film during promotional events, so I was expecting to see them both. That was not the case.

Zendaya was only in the movie for all of seven minutes. I understand that she is and will be an influential character later on in the series, but it was just a little disappointing.

The “Dune” movie was one of Timothée Chalamet’s best performances and one of the best films that the year 2021 has produced. I’ve finally found my hyper fixation for the month of November. The “Dune” series has gained a fan.