DUNE PART TWO reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Walken, Lea Seydoux, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Souheila Yacoub.
Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 science fiction novel has been hugely influential and has shaped other sci-fi classic such as Star Wars, etc. For a long time the novel was thought to be unfilmmable due to the dense narrative and its provocative themes and Herbert’s grand world building. But Dune was brought to the screen successfully in 2021 by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, a fan of the novel. With his epic vision and superb state of the art special effects Villeneuve confidently brought Herbert’s world to dazzling life and immersed audiences in the spectacle. He succeeded in bringing Herbert’s world to life where David Lynch’s ambitious 1984 movie failed.
Written in collaboration with Jon Spaihts (who also co-wrote Dune), Part Two of this epic story continues on from where Part One finished. When the film opens the exiled Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), who with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), had managed to escape the massacre that destroyed the House of Atreides and found sanctuary with the Fremen tribe in Sietch Tabr. He seeks revenge against the evil Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) whom he holds responsible for the murder of his father. Paul joins forces with the warrior desert tribes of Fremen to take back Arrakis, the spice producing planet, and bring down the tyrannical Baron.
Paul is hailed as a messiah by the Fremen people. supported by Stilgar (Javier Bardem), an elder of the tribe who fervently believes in the ancient prophesies, he undergoes a series of trials to test his bravery. This includes taming and riding one of the fearsome sandworms that move through the desert. Paul also develops a relationship with the alluring Chani (Zendaya). She is skeptical of his role as the Messiah who will lead her people to freedom. But Paul is also plagued by troubling visions and soon he will be forced to choose between launching a holy war to save the world and his love for Chani.
Dune Part Two is epic in scope, and deals with universal themes of power, destiny, colonialisation and exploitation, religion, and revenge. However, it is a little slow to kick off as early scenes deal with religion, mysticism and mythology. The film also challenges the usual trope of the archetypal “chosen one” narrative, painting the protagonist Paul Atreides in a more ambiguous light. This is a fairly bleak film as a palpable sense of dread hangs over the narrative.
But when the action starts, Villeneuve’s direction is quite muscular and the film grabs the audience’s attention. The epic battle sequences are staged with gusto and somehow work as an allegory for America’s involvement in many campaigns over the past half century.
The film has been gorgeously shot by award winning Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser, who employs a distinct and different colour scheme for the different environments. For example, those scenes set with the desert tribes of the Fremen are primarily shot in brownish hues, while a brutal gladiatorial contest in a stadium in Arrakis is shot in glorious black and white and harks back to those frightening scenes of Nazi rallies in Nuremberg captured by Leni Reifenstahl.
Patrice Vermette’s production design is epic and captures the grandeur of Arrakis, especially with his vision for Baron Harkonnen’s lavish and sprawling palace. Hans Zimmer’s score is intense and emotional and propels the action. The sound design is huge and ominous, especially when it heralds the arrival of the sandworms, and the cinema almost shakes with the vibrations.
Villeneuve has assembled a superb star-studded cast to flesh out the various characters, many of whom are familiar from the first film. Chalamet again brings plenty of grit, charisma, a messianic quality (and those piercing blue eyes) to his role as the exiled Paul Atreides. Zendaya brings spunk and a sassy quality to her portrayal of the rebellious Chani. Ferguson reprises her role as Paul’s mother who shares a psychic bond with the unborn baby gestating in her womb. Also returning is Charlotte Rampling, who brings an imperious quality to her role as the powerful head of the mystical Bene Gessrit cult, and she oozes malevolence. Josh Brolin also reprises his role as the loyal soldier Gurney Halleck. Bardem brings strength to his role as Stilgar, whose faith in Paul’s abilities overrides the suspicion and doubt of the rest of the Fremen tribespeople.
New to the series are Dave Bautista (from the Guardians of The Galaxy trilogy, etc), who appears as the Beast Rabban, Baron Harkonnen’s ruthless nephew who is put in charge of spice production until he is replaced by the brutal, creepy and psychotic assassin Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Elvis star Austin Butler, almost unrecogniseable under some prosthetic makeup). Christopher Walken pops up briefly in a few scenes as Shaddam IV, the powerful Padishah emperor, although he is given little to do in the role, while Florence Pugh is solid as Princess Irulan and Lea Seydoux contributes a small role as Lady Margot Fenring, a close friend of the emperor.
Dune Part Two runs for a massive 164 minutes but it sets up expectations for Part Three. Because of Villeneuve’s spectacular vision and the film’s immersive and impressive sound design it demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible for full effect.
★★★★
