Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of h...
Back when I first reviewed Dune: Part One back in 2021, I was very deliberate in picking my words carefully to say I LIKED the film: it was just a lot of exposition and table setting but everything surrounding and engulfing it was so well-constructed, it was difficult not to like it.
For anyone hoping “Dune: Part Two” would be able to win me over…..congratulations, you got your wish.
Nearly everything about Dennis Villeneuve’s direction embodies and typifies Dune’s moody, enigmatic, and expansive size and style but more importantly, it highlights his patience. Making surprisingly nimble light work of what was once considered unsalvageable material (thanks for that Warner Bros), he elevates that into something every bit as operatic as it is intimate.
Between deliberate spacial awareness illustrating an overt visual confidence, visually audacious imagery that overwhelms every individual pixel that engulfs the screen and a grounded sense of naturalism that trumps the first film, Craig Fraiser’s cinematography commands your attention, clutching you by the turtleneck from the opening frame and does not let go. Prolific, productive editing combats and enhances it and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg in regards to the films exceptional lucidity.
Just like before, the deliberate slow pacing captures the movies titanic size in scope, scale and stimulus but also underpins the more revered quieter tragedy that the production design unveils with a more relaxed but appropriate tone shift. Intricate costume design and lighting only adds to the resplendent atmosphere, its mixture of CGI and practical effects further heightens the technology of this fictional world and Hans Zimmers’ rumbling, grandiose score is another bonafide eargasm. Plangent in its jagged chords and unearthly melodies and combining that with the sound design is nothing short of salivating.
It’s a literal Russian nesting doll of delicate, desolate beauty and craftsmanship. And let’s can’t forget how versatile the performances are, all radiating with certifiable physical and narrative presence while doubling down on the intricate seeds planted in them the first time around. Decent dialogue this time around too.
Similar to Part One, Part Two’s plot also progresses at a measured pace, remains engaging and lively while drawing attention away from its deliberate slowness and has no shortage of moving parts. A lot of this story’s beats are obscenely familiar (it is the dreaded white savior story after all) but at least here, they know that’s where it leads and play to it with the kind of self-awareness to quell that long-standing charge.
Everything the first film sets up about Paul’s journey and beyond are paid off beautifully; while some divergences from the book are obvious, it still thematically follows and captures the heart of the corruption of religion, ecological transformation, theocratic authoritarianism, colonial violence, and the economics of resource extraction that Frank Herbert played on in his novel, leaving you somewhat distraught as the consequences of the character's choices pile up and surely lead them down paths they cannot return from. It deepens Part One’s ambivalence toward messianic legend by embedding that beyond Paul’s struggle with his fate and passing it down to everyone else.
Its stances on differing motivations and moves shown, as well as a certain characters portrayal, are also a direct mirror to the tumultuous politics that clouds and poisons our society today: the constant blending of religion and politics in a world where church and state should be separate but ultimately are one and the same. It’s only further proof that you HAVE to watch the first film first in order to get the context to properly be immersed in this one. And hell, even my biggest complaint from the first film was addressed. Apparently, somebody on the writing team or the casting director was listening on those complaints on the lack of Muslim, Arabic and Middle Eastern influences; as the Fremen’s Arabic-inspired language is now foregrounded on full display, and onscreen representation for them has mildly improved.
Just one problem, one blistering thumb to the eye that holds this film back from truly sticking the landing: it’s third act. It’s not entirely rushed but it feels like it is. Whereas the first movies ending was left blatantly incomplete to lead to this one, here, this films ending goes through the beats it has to in limited time without having to sacrifice its pacing….but it still feels obvious that something is missing. Don’t get me wrong, the bittersweet ending does fulfill the supposed arcs it sets up but if that’s what you were going to do, I wouldn’t have minded if you guys just went the full three hours.
If Part One was a Vincent Van Gogh painting, then I’d consider Part Two like Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”: a vast, mysterious, atmospheric landscape proclaiming human helplessness against the forces of nature, an emblem of self-reflection and contemplation of life's path.
