Mesmerising world building and a star-studded cast brings a new aesthetic pleasing sheen to Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel Dune, director Denis Villeneuve’s latest successful sci-fi action epic that brings art back to the blockbuster.

Set in the year 10,191, Dune stars Timothee Chalamet as Paul, son of Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) leader of the affluent House Atreides. Haunted by visions of his destiny on another world, Paul is thrust into a political war when the emperor transfers power of resource rich desert planet Akkaris from the tyrannical House Harkonnen to House Atredis. When House Harkonnen, under the rule of the gargantuan and methodically evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Peter Skarsgaard) attack House Atreides, Paul finds himself on the run and in alliance with the Fremen, the indigenous people of Akkaris led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem.)

Where Christopher Nolan dropped the ball with the frustratingly confusing Tenet, fellow thinking-man blockbuster director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2099) continues to impress with his big-game approach to filmmaking the perfect alternative to those frustrated with the superhero genre. While Dune deals with many of the same themes that you would find in a Marvel movie, the source material by Frank Herbert combined with the excellent craftmanship that Dune employs results in a sci-fi fantasy epic that is uniquely its own, a first chapter to a different kind of space epic that has a maturity to its character that doesn’t sacrifice from the spectacle of its action-adventure elements.

With Grieg Fraser (Lion) as cinematographer, along with production designer Patrice Vermette (Arrival), and costume design by Robert Morgan and Jacqueline West (The Revenant), Dune must be the most aesthetically striking film of the year, a collage of bold imagery that exceptionally presents its other worldly element. While the term “world building” is used loosely, it is one that applies here and then some, Villeneuve taking Herbert’s words and creating imagery epic and beautiful, not to mention a sci-fi story completely engrossing in its tale of fate, war, treachery and (of course) good versus evil.

As with many sci-fi epics, there is a density to Dune that may take some not used to this style of sci-fi filmmaking a moment or two to catch on, yet screenwriters Eric Roth (Munich), Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange), and Villeneuve himself, along with editor Greg Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty) keep the story digestible and moving at a comfortable pace.

An all-star cast of actors are terrific. Oscar Isaac brings a gravitas as a king with the weight of a world on his shoulders; Rebecca Ferguson is mesmerising as a queen who recognises her son’s greater destiny; Jason Mamoa is savagely good as a warrior of honour and violence; and Peter Skarsgaard is a horrifying vision of gluttonise greed personified.

In the end it is Timothee Chalamet who is the figurehead of this sure-to-be franchise, and as Paul the Oscar nominee brings not only the dramatic and action-man chops to the role, but an ethereal quality to a saviour figure character that is easy to root for.

Charismatic stars, mesmerising visual and compelling story. It is all part and parcel of Dune, a blockbuster spectacular of its own world.