Dune

Vast. And, having said that, it seems rather an understatement in terms of this two and a half hour science fantasy epic. Just taking in the scale of location photography (Jordan and Abu Dhabi), vistas of desert sands and rocky peaks, enormous sets, palaces, spice works, and a succession of special effects, Dune is vast. And, if you have see it on an IMAX screen, it sometimes is overpowering.

This is the world of Frank Herbert, published in the 1960s (before Star Wars which echoes it), with emperors and empires, trade in space, spices, galactic wars. Audiences have to pay attention to the initial information about the Empire, the different dynasties, the power plays. Readers of the novel and those whose memory of the 1984 David Lynch version is fresh enough, will be somewhat at home with the planet Arrakis and its spices, its desert population, the Fremin. And they will know that the house of Atreides is the central focus, especially the young Paul Atreides (Chalamet). He is the one to come.

Paul Atreides is a young man of slender build, who does not fit the image of the foretold warrior hero. In fact, Dune is something of a coming of age film, the young Paul trusted by his dignified father (Isaac), cared for by his powerful mother, Lady Jessica (Ferguson), blessed by the organisation of the nuns, headed by the Abbess (Rampling0, who have tested Paul and found that he is to be the one.

Atreides trains in sword battle, is friendly with the warrior heroes who fight for his father and discovers mystical powers of communication, especially with his mother.

This is serious spectacle. At one stage, warriors formally on guard when one of them, Josh Brolin is advised to smile. Through gritted teeth, his says he is smiling.  There is no smiling in Dune. (Although the bloated emperor  (Skarsgard), who floats, eats, bathes – and treacherously betrays looks a comic villain.)

Ultimately, after some spectacular fights, invasions, aerial battles, visions of underground earthworms in the desert, Paul and his mother are forced to survive, befriending the Fremin, Paul challenged in combat to prove himself and his worth. Lady Jessica has a stronger presence than expected, influencing his decisions, sharing his destiny.

And, as they move through the desert, up come the final credits as a transition to Part Two.