“Dune: Part Two” is the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, and it serves as the second part of his two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi epic “Dune.” The story follows Paul Atreides, who, after being left for dead, joins the Fremen people to wage war on the evil Harkonnens. The film stars Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me By Your Name”), Zendaya (“Euphoria”), Rebecca Ferguson (“Silo”), Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”), Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Florence Pugh (“Don’t Worry Darling”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Dancer in the Dark”).
While I still have not read Herbert’s classic, Villeneuve’s “Dune” sequel has been among my most anticipated films of the past few years. I loved the first film when I saw it back in 2021, but upon a recent rewatch, I found its pacing and lack of story to be more frustrating. On the other hand, “Part Two” is a bigger, bolder and better film than its predecessor, finally giving audiences the complete and tragic story that Villeneuve started years ago.
The biggest improvement over the original is the overall narrative. While both films are meant to go together as one massive narrative, “Dune” ultimately felt like a two-and-a-half-hour-long movie with only about an hour’s worth of plot. “Part Two” instead feels like a true epic, weaving a war movie, a love story and a psychological thriller all together in a sci-fi package. Every single character feels more realized than they did in the predecessor, and I genuinely cared about each and every one of them. Another reason I loved this movie so much more than the original is the performances, with Chalamet maybe delivering my favorite of the entire cast. His portrayal of Paul was quite dry in the previous entry, and, to my understanding, that’s kind of what the character is like in the first half of the book as well. But “Part Two” shows Paul essentially struggling with possibly being the messiah for the Fremen people of Arrakis while trying not to lose himself in the process. To pull this off, the performance needed to evolve almost throughout the entire movie, and Chalamet pulled it off in one of his best roles to date. Zendaya, Ferguson, Butler and Bardem also do exceptionally well in their roles, with their acting perfectly complementing the depths of their characters.
While these individual elements of the film are exceptional, it should be noted that the film works as well as it does because of Villeneuve’s direction and vision. From a technical perspective, “Dune: Part Two” is about as perfect as you can get, almost reaching the highs of “Blade Runner 2049.” Cinematographer Greig Fraser beautifully captures the massive sand dunes and beautiful architecture of Arrakis while also experimenting with unique visuals on other planets; there’s a beautiful sequence set on the monochromatic-looking planet Geidi Prime, which was achieved through the use of infrared cameras.
The world of “Dune” is also brought to life by the phenomenal score from Hans Zimmer, who continues to experiment with a wide variety of instruments and vocalizations to create a mystical and emotionally resonant experience. All of this comes together in an excellent manner, with Villeneuve’s vision serving as the glue pulling everything together.
As fantastic as “Dune: Part Two” is, there was a specific sequence that annoyed me quite a bit. At the film’s London premiere in February, actor Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) was revealed to have a small role in the film, and I was pretty curious to see what her role would be considering that her involvement had never been brought up before this point in time. However, her brief cameo solely consists of her turning to face the camera in a big reveal. As goofy as this criticism may sound, I found this to come off as self-congratulatory. The “Dune” films boast fantastic ensemble casts, yet I never felt like Villeneuve was trying to brag about how many A-list actors he was able to cast.
All in all, “Dune: Part Two” is a science-fiction masterpiece and yet another terrific film under Villeneuve’s belt. Thanks to a stacked ensemble cast, fantastic visuals, atmospheric music and an engaging story, this film is everything I wanted it to be. Villeneuve has almost finished writing the script for a third film, and while fans will have to wait quite a while before it gets made, “Dune: Part Two” is more than enough to hold us over.
RATING: 9/10
