Movie Review: ⊃⋃⋂⪽

It's hard to know what to make of Dune. It is visually and sonically impressive. It's a great ride from start to finish. But - and it's a big but - you've seen it all before.

Partly that's because Dune was published in 1965 and every sci-fi film made after that date used it as a template. Star Wars' Tatooine is the obvious example. But you've seen the sword-training montage in Game of Thrones, the corridor battle in Daredevil, the wily natives in Avatar, the chosen-one in The Matrix, the epic space-ships in Mass Effect. Even the opening scenes are identical to the first episode of the new Foundation series.

It feels like you could make a shot-for-shot remake by just remixing popular media from the last few decades.

The show is long - well over two hours - but very little happens in it. That would be fine if this were an epic series, but is slightly frustrating in a movie.

The ending is weird. No spoilers, but Zendaya literally turns to camera, breaking the fourth wall, and says "Hope you enjoyed the first part! Tune in next time for more thrilling adventures!"

I guess the problem here is that the film makers have correctly worked out that people love big, sweeping sci-fi shows. But, inexplicably, made a feature film rather than satisfying the audience's cravings. Just... why?

The whole thing is thoroughly entertaining - and the cast are obviously having a lot of fun. You'll enjoy seeing how influential Dune has been to several generations of creatives. It's much more fun than the standard MCU super-hero slug-fest. But, unfortunately, just as derivative.