I can now say that I've ridden the grandfather worm. Yes, thunderous sound has nauseated me as my seat vibrated worryingly and I looked up from my far-too-close seat feeling less than safe and sane, like I had jumped onto the back of the monster, as Shai-Hulud made its way towards me like a nightmare come to life. All of that is to say I have sat in the front row of the IMAX and watched Dune 2, so you dear reader don't have to.
Before we get into that though we must talk about the fact that where one should sit in the movie theater is the kind of cultural hot topic that can tear friendships asunder and make social pariahs out of previously popular people. Whether you're a dedicated middle of the theater sitter or a back-row bad boy, it's rare anyone will argue that sitting in the front row of the cinema is your best bet. While there are some exceptions to the rule — LA staples like Vidiots, The New Beverly, and the recently reopened Egyptian all offer fantastic views from their front rows — in general, the front row is not usually in the conversation.
And yet, I am someone who has long taken that inevitable crick-in-the-neck in exchange for being immersed in the action. And so I decided to up the experience of Denis Villeneuve's highly-anticipated Dune: Part 2 by sitting in the very front row of LA’s The Grove AMC IMAX screen to truly transport myself to Arrakis and let the spice flow over me.
As a "True IMAX" lover myself, I will point out that while The Grove IMAX experience is still impressive and larger than your average cinema screen, this is not the same as sitting in the front row of a "True IMAX," which I once did — not out of choice — when I watched Watchmen at the Waterloo IMAX in London. At that time it was the biggest IMAX screen in the world, and sitting in the front row at the left-hand side of the screen was equivalent to trying to watch a film on the corner of a Times Square billboard while standing on the street looking up. Luckily for me and my cursed plans for watching Dune 2, I was sitting in the empty front row of The Grove IMAX and could see the entire screen before me. And while my neck paid for it, it was mostly worth the pain.
If you want a review of Dune 2’s epic filmmaking and the talent that went into making it, our intrepid critic Tom Jorgensen has you covered at the link. But I'm here to report on the experience of the IMAX blasting HD cinema-sand into my eyes as the bass scrambled my internal organs and occasionally made me question the life choices that had led me to this seat.
I first began to regret my decision when Nicole Kidman appeared on my screen, looming over me like the angel of LA cinema culture she has become. Her visage was blurred and hard to define, but I soon realized that was because the lights weren't down yet (rather than being due to my questionable seating).
As the lights finally began to dim and the IMAX countdown began, I remembered why I had made this choice, constantly chasing the high of Muppets 4D at MGM Studios or the truly immersive fun of contemporary 3D cinema trailblazer My Bloody Valentine 3D. Though Dune 2 was not presented with a need to wear special plastic (or cardboard) glasses, as the rolling deserts of Arrakis towered above me I felt like I was about to slide down them myself. The vertigo of looking up at something immense is a transportive feeling that we rarely get in adulthood, yet I was overcome by it as I peered toward the vast horizon. That's one big takeaway of this weird experiment I undertook: If you want to feel like you're in the war on Arrakis, then take the strange dip that I did; if you want to appreciate the stunning filmmaking that made Dune 2 possible, maybe book a few seats back for your first viewing.
One of the things that spoke to me in the first film and once again shines here is the way that Villeneuve shoots his actors in close-up, their faces filling the screen. That special something is slightly lost when you're at the bottom of a 50-plus-foot tall screen rather than sitting back in the theater enjoying every emotion the actors are playing. But it did add to the surreal nature of being so close to the action of the film as the concept of giant heads floating above you feels deeply alien, even if it's not as beautiful as Villeneuve and director of photography Greig Fraser planned.
That stunning cinematography did bring to life one of the things I'd been most excited for in Dune 2 though, which is the burgeoning romance between Chani (Zendaya) and Paul (Timothée Chalamet). While at times it felt like I was in their tent with them — a slightly awkward sensation — the only person to blame for that was me due to my unusual seating choice.
If you're interested in who is at the top of the "Front Row Awards Season Picks," then there was only one answer from my intimate perch. Sure, he got Oscar shine for Elvis, but if there's any justice in the world, the shining bald-capped, sociopathic performance from Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen will get that golden statue. Almost as awe-inspiring as the beautiful desert scenery, up close and personal Feyd was terrifying. Every cut, shake, and open-mouthed scream felt too close for comfort and added an unexpected horror element to my front-row experience. By the time he showed up on screen in a truly nightmarish appearance though I was feeling the pain, as I wiggled and writhed in my seat and adjusted the limited reclining to try and make myself slightly more comfortable.
It was all worth it though when the grandfather worm showed up — bless Shai-Hulud — its gaping maw filling the screen, about to consume me and the otherwise empty front-row whole. That is the true joy of seeing Dune 2 in IMAX, while sitting far too close: it’s to feel as if you've been transported to another world and are about to be eaten by a giant alien worm. Sure, there's the epic final battle and the soaring romance, I already mentioned but to sit in the front row of the IMAX is to embrace the same curiosity of those who bought the now infamous Dune popcorn buckets. You want to be close to Shai-Hulud, to feel its texture, to become one with it.
Or at least that's how I felt after almost three hours of hearing and feeling every grain of sand on Arrakis, surrounded by the thumping bass of Hans Zimmer's score. Would I attempt this tiring yet satisfying feat again for Dune Messiah? Unlikely, but if we eventually get to God Emperor of Dune, I will once again become courageous so that I can see the giant-man-sand-worm of that story extremely up close.
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.
