EAT • SLEEP • REVIEW • REPEAT
DUNE: PART TWO
Denis Villeneuve out here spicing up your life once again.
Considering the torrid time the Dune name has had through the years, the very fact that, at long last, Frank Herbert’s iconic novel got the big screen adaptation it richly deserved, is a miracle worthy of Maud’Dib himself. This is a book that many considered unfilmable, and for such a long period of time, that very much felt like the case. And then along came Denis Villeneuve.
After years in development purgatory, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation was a bona fide hit, proving that, given the right level of guidance, application, and skill, Arrakis had plenty of spice left in it. And here we are, three years, one pandemic, and several industry strikes later, staring at the much-anticipated return of Denis and Dune and yet another minor miracle of a movie.
Uniting with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is on the warpath as he seeks revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, Paul must assemble an army to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
If Dune really was the unfilmable novel, clearly no one told Denis Villeneuve. With a filmography edging ever closer to greatness, Villeneuve evidently felt confident he could tame the sandworm and promptly threw himself headfirst into the daunting world of Arrakis. However, despite such admirable buoyancy, there were few that believed the Canadian filmmaker could pull it off to quite this extent.
Make no mistake, Dune is an intensely strange read and its chequered adaptation past only works to highlight just how successful Villeneuve has been, not only in bringing this weird world to life, but in making it wholly accessible to mass audiences. There are so many ways in which 2021’s Dune could’ve gone wrong, however, the very fact that it didn’t is a truly remarkable feat. Now throw in a sequel that builds on these successes in almost every way and we’re truly entering uncharted territory here.
In truth, there really was no other filmmaker than Denis Villeneuve that could’ve brought Frank Herbert’s universe to life, and the very second we’re thrown back into the baron beauty of Arrakis, we’re instantly reminded of why. Without missing a beat, we pick things up almost immediately after the events of Dune, with Villeneuve’s vision and devotion to Herbert’s story once again shining through.
Picking up where he left off, Villeneuve’s reverence for the source material comes through loud and clear with every lavish frame and every one of Dune: Part Two’s immaculately constructed set pieces. Like its predecessor, Part Two is an unabashed love letter to the novel, however, while the first film spent large chunks of its duration painstakingly constructing the universe, this time around, Villeneuve refuses to hold back.
Getting off to a relatively low-key start, Part Two certainly isn’t in any rush, however, while the build is a steady one, once things get going, there’s no stopping it. As it slowly but surely works its way through the gears, the build-up of pressure is palpable, and as the film’s scope gradually unfurls, the immense scale of this world is flung open for all to see.
As Paul Atreides’ influence among the Fremen grows and as the bloody battles unfold, the true ambition of the film comes to the fore. Enormous in scale but relatively modest in both its visual and narrative ambitions, Dune: Part Two is quite unlike anything else in modern cinema and the result is as intoxicating and invigorating as the spice flowing through Arrakis.
With Hans Zimmer in inspired form and DP Greig Fraser bringing the same muted beauty he did with the first film, Dune: Part Two is a truly immersive cinematic experience and a brutal yet beautiful watch that will sweep you up before burying you under the weight of its escalating doom. With sound and visuals in perfect harmony, shock and awe are undoubtedly Part Two’s primary mode of attack, yet, as undeniably magnificent as this approach is, certain character elements are almost inevitably overshadowed.
Unlike its predecessor, Part Two’s cast feels like far less of an immense ensemble effort, and far more of a scaled down character piece. Where the first film bounced back and forth across the desert to characters and families dotted over Arrakis and beyond, this sequel keeps its feet on the ground for a far more focused story.
That’s not to say others hovering around Paul Atreides’ orbit don’t get their time to shine, however, the film makes it quite clear that we are here primarily for one person’s story. Almost impossibly huge at times, the film’s action is an all-encompassing beast, so while it’s certainly an incredibly absorbing visual experience and a truly fascinating study of the grinding mechanisms of war and politics, it has little interest in constructing an intricate, interlacing character study across the story’s wider world.
As the great prophet, Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides leads the line with admirable vivacity, helping the film’s more focused character approach work. In the three years that have passed since the first film, it’s clear that Chalamet feels far more comfortable in the role and far more at ease with the burden of an entire franchise upon his shoulders. Such pressures could’ve easily buried the young star, however, Chalamet takes it all in his stride.
Around him, Part Two’s support cast are on hand to offer much needed depth and counterbalance to the story. Of these, it’s Zendaya’s star that unquestionably shines the brightest.
With war, religious fervour, and relentless politicking swirling around her, Chani is the wise head, the emotional anchoring, and the moral core that the story so sorely needs, and Zendaya’s ability to capture these elements make her the film’s true MVP. With a role reduced largely to looks, gestures, and facial expressions for much of the film’s second half, Zendaya offers so much with so little, proving once again that she remains one of the most talented performers of her generation.
Orbiting Chalamet and Zendaya, the ensemble, despite not being quite as vast as the first film, are still able to make the story and the world feel bulked out and lived in. With the likes of Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem returning and the sinister new presence of Austin Butler, making the most of their condensed screen time, the group pull together to ensure they’re not buried by the enormity of the story or the immenseness of the visuals.
As with many of Villeneuve’s latter work, production here is king, and with sets, visual effects, and costumes all of the highest possible quality, Dune: Part Two shines where it needs to. With a sheer vastness that’s as immaculate as it is haunting, the film is epic in every sense of the word as it opens the world up before swallowing us whole like a ravenous sandworm.
At times, it can be a thoroughly overwhelming viewing experience, yet it’s never uncomfortably so, and with the sheer masterfulness of the film’s craft laid out before us, it’s best to just kick back, relax, and roll with it. Despite Dune: Part Two’s expansiveness and heavy-duty world building, the film’s story is a relatively simple one, as Villeneuve appears happy to keep the story’s wider universe floating around the edges while homing in on its protagonist’s revenge mission.
With the enormous influence of Frank Herbert’s book over both the science fiction and fantasy genres, it’s unsurprising that there are more than a few narrative similarities with the likes of Game of Thrones and Star Wars throughout, however, despite this level of familiarity, it’s a testament to Denis Villeneuve’s filmmaking prowess that Dune: Part Two, like its predecessor, stands out as entirely its own thing.
About as close as we’re ever going to get to a perfect big screen rendering of Herbert’s vision, both Dune: Part One and Two will almost certainly go down as the definitive retelling of the story; a success due in no small part to Villeneuve. Like his previous films, the director’s dedication to getting the job done and getting it done right are undeniable, and while it’s reasonable to question whether such commitment to the granular detail of Herbert’s complex story risks dampening the emotional impact of his films, sometimes you just have to sit back and appreciate the sheer batshit audacity of it all.
Visually stunning and narratively robust, Dune: Part Two is an absolute triumph, as Denis Villeneuve builds on the foundations laid with the first film with yet another epic sandstorm of science fiction magnificence. As brutal as it is beautiful, Dune: Part Two is a truly masterful slice of sci-fi cinema and a phenomenally realised vision that takes everything its predecessor established and rides it hard into the desert like a spiced-up sandworm.
