Jonah Naplan February 25, 2024
“Dune: Part Two” is what the movies are all about. Beyond most big blockbusters of the modern era, this is a film that works on both a large-scale, cinematic level, while also playing to the more intimate depths of the emotional spectrum. Director Denis Villeneuve has created a universe so spectacular that we’re immediately mystified once we enter it, but it’s what he does with the audience after we’ve stepped through the threshold that’s the most impressive feat. Massive fans of Villeneuve’s first “Dune” from a couple of years ago will surely love this one just as much if not more, but even those who haven’t seen it—or have and didn’t care for it—will likely find several things to really appreciate here. “Dune: Part Two” rewards those who admire these characters and their world and can speak fluently in Fremen tongue and whatnot, but it also works equally well as a piece of entertainment for all crowds, anywhere. Watching the film, I thought about other great part twos that expand the worlds of their characters as well as our understanding of their emotions and ways of thinking like “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “The Dark Knight.” For 166 minutes, “Dune: Part Two” fizzles and bangs as it introduces loads of new characters, continues the arcs of old ones, wallows around in deep themes, amazes with action, and expands a universe that’s already been so enriching. What a movie!
This film picks up probably no more than a couple hours after the last one left off. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are traveling with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to transport the body of Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun) back to their homeland, when they’re attacked by the ruthless Harkonnens who see their tribe as poor and vulnerable. The Fremen tribal leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) observes Paul’s strength and fortitude in battle—a talent heightened by his training with Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) in the last outing and who will make an appearance in this one, too—and believes that he, according to the prophecy, is the Chosen One, able to protect their people from conflict and turmoil.
The Harkonnens, assuming that Paul and the rest of the Atreides dynasty were slaughtered in their attack on Arrakis, are back with a vengeance; Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista), the bald-headed, vicious war general, in particular, is so filled with intense rage that it dominates every moment he’s on-screen, while the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen himself (Stellan Skarsgård), who has increased in intrigue and aura dramatically since his first appearance in David Lynch’s 1984 “Dune” adaptation, is sinister in a more unconventional way; being that he’s confined to a chair or a healing mud bath for the majority of the runtime, it’s his vile words and orders rather than his actions that get under your skin.
Meanwhile, on a different planet, the Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Irulan (Florence Pugh) are working with the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling) to counsel Arrakis, having already decimated House Atreides with their Sardaukar army in the last film and being right at the tippy-top of Paul’s vengeance list. The group has associations with the Baron’s brooding nephew named Feyd-Rautha (a menacing and absolutely perfect Austin Butler), who will inherit the throne from his uncle once the Harkonnens take over Arrakis, and will stop at nothing to assert his dominance and ensure that everyone else around him cowers in fear at the thought of his name. Feyd-Rautha is the best new character in the entire movie, echoing a young Anakin Skywalker, as well as Anton Chigurh and Heath Ledger’s Joker. He’s not a villain that kills because he has to; he does it because it makes him happy, the same way one might lounge at the beach or listen to a favorite song. The gleaming grin on his face as he slashes the throats of innocents sends a chill down our spines.
Director Denis Villeneuve maximizes the talents of all his actors by taking a very different approach to directing the incredible ensemble than most filmmakers probably would for this kind of movie. Instead of only being vehicles to deliver exposition and scoot the narrative along at a merry pace, his characters become theatrical elements as much as human elements, using archaic thespian repertoire like duration and kinesthetic response to communicate their feelings and emotions about events both victorious and tragic, Arraki politics, war, death, prophecies, the planet, and their own selves and others. Notice how Stilgar’s attitude towards Paul informs the viewer that he’s in awe of the young man’s potential, while certain Fremen members reacting to Stilgar idolizing Paul prove they’re not so sure. This is a special kind of film where the industry’s finest new technology acts as the playground for the art form’s oldest and trustiest techniques and performative ideas.
It is also one of the most staggeringly composed movies I’ve ever seen.
Each and every moment within “Dune: Part Two” is an unforgettable cinematic experience in and of itself, whether characters are riding sandworms in big, wide shots that depict the entire desert landscape, or simply talking to one another face-to-face. Villeneuve, working with returning cinematographer Greig Fraser who won an Oscar for the first “Dune,” paints the landscapes of Arrakis with an artistic flair so unheard of in the dreary, color-drained world of blockbusters we otherwise live in. Individual sequences are so different in composition but all of them astonish in their bravado and thoughtfulness, proving Villeneuve has studied Frank Herbert’s novel and knows how to translate it in terms that deliver his own spin. This is his “Dune.” Unafraid to take chances and make some decisions that could potentially alienate fans, Villeneuve’s movie is all the better for it, too.
There’s always been the feeling that these modern “Dune” adaptations are as much of science fiction popcorn flicks as they are political allegories, all bearing especially pertinent messages about the time we live in now. Villeneuve envisions a highly calculated universe where classes of people are literally estranged into factions and political leaders go to war with each other usually because of extreme nationalistic self-pride, fueled by a little inkling of the White Man’s Burden that has monarchs invading foreign regions in order to convert them over to their own ways and beliefs. Conflicts are almost always resolved with violence, but different from the bloody depictions of war we’ve seen throughout history, these battles are majestic and beautiful, like something out of an opera.
The best of these perfect moments—and the one that will probably be cited in detail most often in textbooks and film appreciation videos—is Feyd-Rautha’s “birthday party” on Giedi Prime, a black-and-white stunner with occasional flashes of red fireworks in a crowded arena that pits the young emperor-to-be against the three remaining survivors of the attack on House Atreides. Two are slaughtered quickly, the third lasts a bit longer. He doesn’t truly meet his match until facing Paul in the third act in an expert use of tension and hand-to-hand combat; another of the film’s highlights.
There’s a certain synergy between all of these characters and scenes that’s nothing short of magnificent, as if every little thing is intentional and all of a collective piece; a very, very large piece. The scale of this entire movie is undeniably impressive, and the expert use of visual effects is as incredible as the absence of them in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” Of course, none of the technical mastery is any surprise—the editing by Joe Walker keeps the movie chugging along at a ridiculous pace even at nearly three hours in length, while the score by Hans Zimmer feels perfectly calibrated to amplify all the action on-screen. The film’s emotional impact as a physical as well as visceral experience is what’s most fascinating and will stick with you in the proceeding days after you’ve left the theater.
The first “Dune” did an excellent job of establishing this world and its characters, but it admittedly felt like half of an incomplete story. Not only does “Dune: Part Two” expand upon the world-building in necessary ways, but it resolves on a note that seems conclusive while still remaining ambiguous enough to hint towards something more to come. Each and every second of “Dune: Part Two” works to earn our excitement about future installments. It is one of the greatest cinematic experiences of the 21st century.
“Dune: Part Two” opens in theaters on March 1st.