“Dune” or “Dune: Part One” (2021) is the second film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel series. In the future year of 10191, an Emperor governs the universe, and this universe’s most valuable resource is spice, which aids in interstellar travel, but it is only found on Arrakis, a desert planet. The Emperor determines which House (thank you, “Game of Thrones” for making these concepts more comprehensible) will occupy Arrakis and insure that spice can be harvested without interference from the indigenous people, the Fremen, who never consented to the Emperor’s rule. The brutal house of Harkonnen have occupied the land and grown wealthy as a result of their position, but the Emperor orders them to withdraw and gives the job to the House of Atreides, whose head is Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and whose home planet is Caladan. His consort, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is training their young, inexperienced son, Paul (Timothee Chamalet), in the ways of the Bene Gesserit, a group of women who possess physical and mental abilities, even though men do not exhibit these traits; however, Paul is different. He dreams of fragments of the future, is learning how to control minds and shows physical prowess that other men do not exhibit. Moving to Arrakis challenges the House of Atreides to the point of possible extinction, but also makes Paul’s dreams come true.

Why would I, a person who had zero interest in Herbert’s novels and did not enjoy David Lynch’s version (through no fault of Kyle Maclachlan), commit to watching not one, but two or more Dune movies? Denis Villeneuve. I found most of his films prior to “Blade Runner 2049” (2017), which is gorgeous, to be riveting, and arresting visuals accompany surprising stories. Apparently Villeneuve’s lifelong dream was to adapt Herbert’s universe for the big screen so while I am happy that he, like Paul, is finally able to bring his fantasies to life, it is not always a good thing for him or everyone else. No slander on Villeneuve’s adaptation, which I prefer over Lynch’s take, but “Dune” is broad in its characters and narrative. It feels predictable, and there is zero investment or tension over well-known characters’ development. Villeneuve’s “Dune” is the cinematic equivalent of a meditation garden: gorgeous to watch with its characters’ polished skin, smooth stonelike spaceships, sand enveloped landscapes, sunlight and shadows playing portentously on golden, bronzed metallic surfaces or verdant landscapes contrasting its arid sister planet. It is important for visuals to tell the story, but the people feel like the supporting actors, not the driving force, as they float elegantly with their gravity defying suits or trembling shields. The more that a person’s face is covered, the less than the audience can relate to them or should be suspicious of them. It is like a tasteful “Star Wars” with superb production values, but lacking in the raw, untidy energy of Lucas’ epic.

While Timothee Chalamet may be the headliner, “Dune” is an ensemble affair; however, Chalamet sets the dour tone as a brooding, wan Paul. At least cowriters Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts (who penned “Prometheus,” “Doctor Strange” and “The Mummy”) and Eric Roth (“Wolfen,” “Forrest Gump,” “The Insider,” “The Insider,” “Ali,” “Munich,” “A Star Is Born,” “Killers of the Flower Moon”) acknowledge that the man boy does not look like he can hold his own in a stiff wind, forget a physical confrontation. In one scene, Paul dodges and catches a minute assassination drone, a hunter-seeker. At the time, it seems plausible and deft, but as the film unfolds and more impressive warriors cannot withstand such an attack, it becomes retroactively impressive. Paul’s slight frame makes sense because if he displays feminine mental abilities, he should also possess feminine physical attributes. Paul’s sullen countenance is not chronic and breaks when he spends time with his weapons teachers and father’s faithful aides, Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa, who is still gorgeous but mostly cleanshaven), an adventurous cheerful bro type, and Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), a man determined to teach Paul how to fight because the memory of war haunts him.

Paul reverts to his original settings countenance when he is with his parents. The weight of his parents’ expectations, his predicament and his visions suppress his youthful buoyancy. In retrospect, Duke Leto Atreides (the scrumptious Oscar Issac sporting a lush, perfectly trimmed beard) feels like an inspiration for Ned Stark, and the only person on the chessboard who wakes up too late to the stakes of the pageant-filled game that he is playing and begins panicking long after it is too late to turn things around. The Duke is the kind of guy that others may not need to go to the trouble of assassinating since he engages in enough activities that could get him killed. He fancies himself above the Harkonnen because he is respectful of the Fremen and treats them like people, but he still wants to harvest the spice and make the Emperor proud so the only difference is a lack of self-preservation gene and good manners. His disembodied hand on Jessica’s neck, a gesture of love, gets framed as a feeble attempt at possession and control. His identity is irrelevant in the sequence, and he almost does not exist long before he arrives at Arrakis.

The real star of “Dune” feels like Jessica. Ferguson is born to play supernaturally dubious women, and Jessica in Part One may edge out her performance as Rose the Hat in “Doctor Sleep” (2019) because of the range of her character’s journey through the course of the film. Jessica appears to be a privileged mother and significant other, but she gets the best lines during the Reverend Mother and Imperial Truthsayer Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling, who is incapable of delivering a less than excellent performance despite the heavy veil) implementation of a test, “Fear is the mind killer.” It is like someone else delivering Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech. The creative choice suggests that she is being tested as much as Paul by refusing to save him. There is an interesting power struggle between Jessica and the rest of the Bene Gesserit regarding how to produce the Kwisatz Haderach through a breeding program. If any part of “Dune” feels reminiscent of Villeneuve’s previous films, it is the breeding program. It reprises themes from “Enemy” (2013) and “Blade Runner 2049.” All women in this universe, except for Fremen women, are double agents with their own agenda by belonging to this breeding cult which entwined itself into the framework of this problematic structure. While Paul’s existence and survival would be impossible without them, especially his mother, at some point, everyone views the women with more suspicious than declared enemies. By the end of Part One, Jessica bears no resemblance to the woman having breakfast with her son in the opening. She is a fierce, driven, and focused person intent on her mission and survival.

Even though the plot points may be intentional, sardonic takes on such tropes as the noble savage and the white savior, they simultaneously validate such tropes in the overt storyline. It is kind of like the think pieces on “Saturday Night Live” where a problematic political figure goes on the show and makes fun of themselves. Showing that you know something is problematic is not the same as not being a problem. “Dune” is not doing the same work as Bong Joon-Ho’s “Snowpiercer” (2013) or “Parasite” (2019) where he takes a storyline where the audience expects one well-trod turn of events then subverts it by obliterating all expectations because the narrative is inherently flawed and needs to be flipped. Narratives like “Dune” understand what is wrong but cannot imagine how to obliterate it or what being right would look like. The story’s structure is kind of like Paul. He is aggrieved that his mom and her fellowship are treating him and others like puppets, but he rather likes being center stage whether as a duke’s son or the Fremen’s champion. It is hard to give up benefits of something that works for you. It also unironically purveys in tropes like the evil albino.

Evil albino in chief is Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, whom Stellan Skarsgard plays and proves why he thrives in Lars von Trier films. He relishes being unrecognizable under mounds of practical effects and makeup. In gender bending casting, Sharon Duncan-Brewster plays Dr. Liet Kynes, a character with ambiguous allegiances, who gets an eleventh-hour trite backstory, but on the way to that moment, is mysterious and intriguing as Arrakis’ guardian. Javier Bardem plays Stilgar, a Fremen, and largely provides comedic relief.

“Dune” is a stunning realization of a beloved sci-fi series, but I felt nothing. Jargon heavy and remote, Villeneuve’s proudest achievement feels like a step back in terms of being more than the equivalent of a purveyor of beautiful gowns. Once the occasion is over, it can be forgotten without any sense of lessons that can be extracted to preserve the heart and soul on harsh, realistic days of drudgery.

Side note: loved Villeneuve’s allusion to famous paintings such as Casper David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” or Jacques-Louis David’s “The Death of Marat.”