Dune: Part Two [Review]
Denis Villeneuve caps off his adaptation of Dune with a bang
Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya as Paul and Chani. Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures
We’ve been at the edge of our seats since October 2021 and now the wait is finally over. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are releasing Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, the second film and conclusion to the duology of his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s famous novel. It was worth the wait indeed.
Dune: Part Two picks up right where its prequel left off. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica Atreides (Rebecca Ferguson) have convinced the desert-dwelling Fremen to give them sanctuary, and are on their way back to their Seitch, their hidden town. Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) is convinced that Paul is Lisan al Gaib, the messiah promised to them in a prophecy, so he insists on his safe passage. Chani (Zendaya), the literal girl of Paul’s dreams, befriends the smitten Paul but is wary of her people’s religion and the fundamentalist sect’s blind faith in the prophecy. Jessica becomes the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother for the Fremen, wanting to use her position to further sow the seeds of belief about Paul being Lisan al Gaib; she plots to rally the Fremen to the Atreides cause of taking back Arrakis from the evil Harkonnens. Meanwhile, knowing that the prophecy was an idea planted by his mother’s sisterhood over generations in order to control the Fremen, Paul is reluctant to embrace that role and struggles to reconcile his love for Chani and his new people with his duty as the ascendant Duke Atreides.
Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica Atreides. Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures
Because of the incomplete nature of both films, I prefer to consider them as a single five and a half hour movie. As the second half, Dune: Part Two is where the stakes become greater and the story builds to its true climax, while delving deeper into the themes of the work. Part Two criticizes religion by examining the power that blind faith gives to its institutions, and the real, human suffering that economic forces and the thirst for political power create. All this while still giving the audience jaw-dropping action.
Dune: Part Two is a film epic in the classical sense. There’s a mythic heroic protagonist, sweeping vistas, and romance. While this is science fiction, some of the costumes have the qualities of what you might see in a lavish period drama. The plot revolves around an ensemble cast of larger than life characters dealing with world-changing events. The battles and action are elaborate and sometimes massive, all underscored by Hans Zimmer’s sometimes overwhelming score. All of this is captured on a grand, staggering scale by Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser. You might think you’re watching Lawrence of Arabia mashed with The Greatest Story Ever Told, Spartacus, and Braveheart.
Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures
While Dune: Part Two is full of action, the movie devotes more space to exploring the characters’ internal conflicts and motivations. Paul and Chani’s relationship is between two multidimensional, conflicted characters rather than just a plot point necessary to reach the conclusion. Paul is no longer a one-dimensional cutout to which things just happen, something particularly interesting since one of his struggles is fighting the tide of the destiny he’s been bred for.
I appreciated that this film digs a little deeper into the universe’s politics and how the real movers and shakers, the Bene Gesserit order, manipulate the fragile balance of power through political intrigue and breeding, much like something you’d see in Game of Thrones. We learn more about the overarching motivations for the story’s events and spend more time with characters that aren’t on Arrakis, watching their behind-the-scenes machinations.
Austin Butler as Fayd-Rautha Harkonnen. Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures
The film benefits from an incredible supporting cast. Austin Butler’s performance as Fayd-Rautha was delightfully reptilian, but Dave Bautista’s Rabban tempered his anger and violence with fear in a more subtle performance that stood out among the ruthless, almost mustache-twirling Harkonnens. I still love Stellan Skarsgård’s diseased Baron Harkonnen, who chews the scenery, making the most the most out of his corpulent profile, limited movement, and striking floating visual design. Javier Bardem turned in an emotional, believable, yet slightly humorous performance as Stilgar, Paul’s overly faithful Fremen mentor that takes whatever Paul does or doesn’t do as a sign that he’s the savior the Fremen have been anticipating. Finally, there’s Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, a man we’ve only heard about in the previous film, who Christopher Walken brilliantly plays as a world-weary old man that knows he’s just a pawn rather than the architect of death that the House of Atreides imagines him to be.
The visual effects look great, and obviously they need to for a film like this to succeed—I imagine there’s a visual effect in nearly every shot. I was never pulled out of the movie as I often am by CG or poorly composited elements; I couldn’t detect any visual seams in the production. It makes action like sandworm riding or blowing up massive spice harvesters look incredible.
Javier Bardem as Stilgar. Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures
I haven’t read the novel, but I never felt like I was lacking in knowledge of context to understand what was going on. I say this because a couple days before, I attended a screening of David Lynch’s version of Dune from 1984. I do think that movie is underrated, however the thing I dislike about it is how much the movie relies on voiceover to explain itself to the viewer. There’s an extended narrated prologue explaining the world, and then we get internal monologues throughout the movie explaining actions and events, so it made me really pay attention to how Villeneuve’s version approaches world-building and exposition.
That being said, watching Dune: Part One is a must before seeing the sequel. If you’ve seen it but don’t have good memory of the basic events of the first, it’ll enhance your experience if you watch it again because of how closely tied they are. After all, the two films are one text.
Don’t sleep on this one and wait for streaming. Dune: Part Two is best seen—rather, best experienced—on the biggest premium format screen you can find.
Dune: Part Two opens exclusively in theaters on March 1.
