Villeneuve's Dune Fell Short

Book Spoilers for Dune and Dune Messiah

Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part 2

I'm sure we're all at least acutely aware of Denis Villeneuve's Dune duology, based on Frank Herbert's book of the same name. Said to be unadaptable after two attempts that did not reach success, either stalled out during production (Jodorowsky) or did not hit it off with audiences upon release (Lynch). Villeneuve's Dune reached commercial success, with a third film in the work, most likely following Herbert's Dune sequel, Dune Messiah (my favorite book of the series that I've finished). But even these films fall a bit short of capturing the sweeping world of Dune.

The first and most important instance of this is the lack of attention to the Ecology of Dune, a piece of very important context for how Paul ultimately ended up uniting the different Fremen tribes, partially due to the Bene Gesserit prophesy but also by offering the Fremen a way to achieve their goal of terraforming Arrakis, something they have been prevented from doing due to how it would encroach on Spice Production. The thing about the parts of the book, which I will call the 'Ecology of Arrakis storyline' or 'ecology plot,' becomes important later on in the story. It explains a lot of the motivation behind different characters within the first two books and helps establish the role of the Worms and Spice within the world, which also becomes important in later books.

The second is more of an aesthetic issue. Greed and obscene wealth are core to the worldbuilding of Dune, what the Harkonnens have a lot of, the Fremen have little of, this informs their skills. The Fremen are considered some of the best fighters in the known universe, able to rival the Sardaukar at times due to their familiarity with the harsh Arrakis deserts. The problem with Villeneuve's Dune is the visual separation is not quite as apparent. Every set is minimalist with ample empty space, not like the grand displays of wealth of old aristocracy that inspired Dune's Great Houses. This, in many ways, places the Fremen and the Harkonnens on a similar plane design-wise, the main differences being color pallet and decor. This is what I think Lynch's Dune does well: the overbearingness of the Harkonnen ships and the extravagance of the Golden Lion Throne reinforce these themes visually as well as within dialogue.

Now, I'm not saying Villeneuve's Dune is bad. Honestly, I really liked them, but there's a lot of context within the book that is lost in translation, as many things are. I will still be seated for Dune Messiah when that comes out.