Dune: Part Two Review
A flawless sequel to a flawless film, Villeneuve goes big, bold and epic with this installment.
Following the fall of the Atreides house on Arrakis, Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) find refuge with Chani (Zendaya), Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and the Fremen. Paul faces a dilemma, however. The Fremen believe he is the messiah, and his mother - recognising it as an opportunity - seems intent on stirring that belief. But Paul continues to be wary of that destiny, convinced that he will bring blood and death if he steps into that role. As Paul learns the ways of, and earns the respect of, the Fremen, the Emperor (Christopher Walken), Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and the savage Feyd Rautha (Austin Butler), plot his demise.
Frank Herbert’s novel is a famously challenging adaptation, primarily because it is split into such clear parts. This film covers the back half of his novel (with a future film mooted to cover the next, a tv series in the works, and a huge catalog of other Herbert novels set amongst this story to utilise), and it does so with aplomb. Whereas the first was a tragedy, this is the war like climax, and is suitably epic.
What director Denis Villeneuve does so well with this film is actually take a step back from the scale and intensity of the battles Paul must face in his rise to the top. Instead, he spends a lot of time on the smaller moments - Paul’s burgeoning, and then complicated relationship with Chani, his visions, his learning of the Fremen ways, his challenges with accepting his fate. There’s an admirable exploration of the themes of the novel, noting that of course in film the temptation is to shy away from the small moments in favour of the bigger ones. There is still some of that here, but for the most part it isn’t missed.
The cast for this film is as mammoth and epic as the story itself. Across the board, everyone is playing at their A-game. Chalamet does brooding angst and unbridled power wonderfully, Walken is a demure and ineffective Emperor matched by his scheming, conflicted daughter (played by Florence Pugh). Rebecca Ferguson has a wonderful duality in this film, part hateable Bene Gesserit scheming with Paul, and part the lovable doting mother, and it plays much stronger than in the first film. Zendaya gets a bit more to do in this film as well, which should squash qualms that she was largely unused in the first movie.
A standout is Austin Butler. His truly fearsome Feyd Rautha is terrifying in silence, visually unnerving, and when he speaks echoes the Harkonnen drawl of Skarsgard so well you’d think they were related.
What sets Dune and Dune: Part Two apart, however, remains the cinematography, sound design, and score. And this Part Two certainly ups the ante there. The incredible visuals of the first are echoed in the Arrakis scenes, with Greig Fraser delivering non-stop gorgeousness throughout. But they really excel when exploring the Harkonnen homeworld; a world where exteriors are black and white, and the harshness of this environment and some of the unique elements (such as the ink splatter fireworks) really shine. The production design remains outstanding, with Ornithopters and Stillsuits matched in innovativeness by the Emperor’s reflective spaceship. And Hans Zimmer comes to play, once more, with the most seat-rattling, enthralling score of the 2020’s.
Dune: Part Two is nothing short of a masterpiece, and even moreso for being a masterpiece to follow up another masterpiece. Villeneuve is at the top of his game, and this is truly massive, truly epic, and truly iconic filmmaking at its finest. A must see.
