Dune - Part 2 (Denis Villeneuve, 2024)
‘As long as you don’t expect it to be the future of blockbuster filmmaking, it’s probably going to be fine,’ I thought to myself before heading out the door to see Dune - Part Two.
I had skipped the press screening, because my beloved had told me she intended to see Dune - Part Two with me. And luckily enough she wanted to see it (almost) upon release, so on leap day 2024, we went to the second afternoon screening at our local cinema.
I’m happy now to report that Everything you’ve heard about Dune - Part 2 is true. It’s an amazing science fiction spectacular that enters the genre list at the top of the league.
Let me start by stating the absolute obvious: Denis Villeneuve is a wizzard, a master of visual language, and Timothee Chalamet is a true star, who’s chemistry with co-star Zendaya is absolutely fabulous.
The first movie was good, a bit long in the tooth in my humble opinion, but the second one is undeniably great. The promise that was made first time around is now convincingly delivered upon.
Truth be told, my wife feels exactly the opposite. She loved the first movie for its beautiful aesthetics, for the (brutalist) architecture that was spread throughout the movie, and the sedate tempo that I thought was just a little bit dull but which she thought was serene. Part Two is too much like a war movie, she feels, which is probably one of the reasons I like it so much. The battle scenes are absolutely phenomenal, this is basically the best high end action movie since Top Gun: Maverick.
I am a man in his fifties, which means I grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy by George Lucas. Those space westerns were obviously inspired by the works of Dune-author Frank Herbert. In this century, things have come full circle and these two Dune movies are the closest thing we have to those old Star Wars movies.
Yes, the Star Wars movies were fun, while Dune is more serious, but the underlying themes are pretty similar. Both are about (political) power, corruption, greed, resistance and the fight for freedom. And like Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - which I probably annoyed more than you - Dune is also about the ecology, climate change and the many evil ways in which mankind plunders earth’s natural resources. The spice in Dune is basically oil and/or gas in real life.
I haven’t really talked about the story, so per the official synopsis: “Paul Atreides (Chalamet) unites with Chani (Zebdaya) and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”
Speaking of that future, religion is another important theme when discussing Dune. Paul is obviously The Chosen One, the bitter irony being that he deep down knows how that fulfilling his destiny will probably cause millions of people to die. That’s a bit of a mood killer, but it’s good to realize that even while we are cheering on the rebels in their epic fight against House Harkonnen - a not too subtle metaphor for the evil parts of western society - Dune is also very much a cautionary tale about the dangers of organized religion and the fanatic fervour it inspires in some people.
There is great acting throughout the movie from the likes of Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, Stellan Skarsgård, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista and Josh Brolin, with a standout role by Austin Butler as a very freaky and sadistic supporting character.
For his part Villeneuve makes the whole movie a cinematic delight. I loved the visual palette of the movie, the colors are all very striking and sandstorm scenes look simply amazing. There is also a 15 minute sequence halfway through the movie in which he switches to black and white and he goes full Leni Riefenstahl in a stadium full of totalitarian imagery. It’s an amazing sequence that - like the rest of the movie - can’t be praised highly enough. The movie’s sound design is also thunderously good, by the way.
Dune - Part 2 ends in a highly climactic fashion, setting the stage for a third and possibly final chapter!
Note: The movie is in cinemas now in most of the world, with the rest to follow in or around mid-March.