Dune is a sweeping sci-fi epic about Paul Atreides, a gifted young man who does not yet realize his extraordinary destiny. It is a technical achievement in every sense of the word, and wonderfully brings to life the legendary novel of the same name. While Dune is very clearly a part one, it does a terrific job at setting up the characters and building its world.

On a story and character level, Dune is great. It is an extremely faithful adaptation aside from a few plotlines being cut out (changes that I for one, am very satisfied with). While it may initially come off as your cliche "destined hero" plot, there is a lot more to this story that meets the eye. There is a lot of political intrigue in this film as well, more than most would expect, and it's all executed excellently. The pacing does drag a bit, and you can occasionally feel the runtime, but it's a well-done adaptation of the novel regardless. The characters are less fleshed out than the world and political drama surrounding them, but you still can get a feel for who each person is at their core. Paul and Jessica are the most well-written of the bunch, and their arcs in this film are very good. The characters are also brought to life by the actors, who are all mostly well-cast. The standout for me had to be Rebecca Ferguson's Jessica, who shows her character's strength and emotion excellently. Dune functions more as a setup for the sequel, but its story works perfectly well on its own.

However, Dune's best features have to be its technical achievements and its worldbuilding, which, combined with Denis Villeneuve's masterful direction, created an astonishing experience I was left in awe of. One of the greatest things a director can do is work with limits. Being able to direct phenomenal movies while having a lackluster environment to work with shows signs of an incredible director. Turning a plain desert into something so mesmerizing, so breathtaking, so explosive is just astounding to me. The visual effects blend seamlessly with the practical effects and production design, which helped me fully experience this movie and its new worlds. Dune may do its worldbuilding even better visually than in its plot, because every little detail, structure, vehicle, creature, and costume helps give you a better understanding of the places we are in. The sound is amazing for the most part, although I do think there are a few issues with it that made it difficult to fully immerse myself. However, this problem was only minor for me. The cinematography by Greig Fraser (a cinematographer I have always found underrated) is also remarkable and suits the film perfectly.

Dune is able to take what could have easily turned out as a slog of a setup and make it into something unbelievably astonishing. It is a technical marvel aside from a few minute flaws in the sound, and it has a compelling story as well. It can't help but feel slightly incomplete as this is only part one, and it is likely that this film will retroactively be made better after its sequel releases. However, on its own it is still an outstanding film that I absolutely love.

Score: 9/10