Dune: Part Two (2024)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, February 29

PG-13 Running Time: 166 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

It may only be March 1, but this feels like this could be the most anticipated film of 2024. Dune: Part Two is finally here and playing constantly at a theater near you.
As visually and technically impressive as any film you have ever seen. This is true cinematic craftsmanship and everyone is working at the top of their game.
It is hard to believe Dune devotees will not absolutely love this. The early reactions have been insanely positive and there are so many moments that people will be talking about for a long time.

NO

I’ll quietly wait my turn and ask, “Are we not being seduced by the expansive vision and presentation of Dune and giving a pass to the delivery of the actual story? Do we even care about the story all that much?”
If the 2021 Dune was not your jam, Dune: Part Two may impress you more from a cinematic standpoint, but there isn’t much here to change one’s opinion.
I’m not alone in believing the big barrier for a lot of people to conquer with Dune is that the characters and inherit connection to said characters remains at an arms length. Though Villeneuve gets strong performances from an impressive cast, some find it hard to retain, remember, and invest in the Paul Atreides story.

OUR REVIEW

The Northern Lights. The Great Pyramid. Machu Picchu. The Eiffel Tower. The Statue of Liberty. Dune: Part Two.

Having spent a few days on #FilmTwitter and watching the film side of TikTok, here is what I can surmise when it comes to reactions to Dune: Part Two: This movie is among the greatest visual sights that a human eye can witness.

Also, this is apparently the greatest sequel of all time. And as one X user and movie reviewer tweeted, “(Dune: Part Two is)...the most visually impressive movie I’ve seen - an assault on all the senses.”

To be fair, the already infamous popcorn bucket to promote the film may be an assault on all the senses…but I digress.

Seems that people have lost their ever-loving minds over Denis Villenueve’s sequel to 2021’s ambitious, expansive, six-time Oscar winner. In completing the rest of Frank Herbert’s substantial 1965 science-fiction novel, Dune: Part Two is the latest example of a film that someone cannot love enough. I know this firsthand - I heaped praise on it for a good three or four minutes with someone who has also seen the film…only to then be asked why I did not like it.

Some of us have been down this road before with 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, a cinematic juggernaut that has developed a cult-like (and rather cutthroat) fanbase. Apparently that film and Dune: Part Two are perfect movies. In that case, I suppose our work here is done. Once you encounter the perfect version of something, there is really nothing left to discuss or analyze, right?

At the risk of committing blasphemy or some form of cinematic treason, I would suggest to #FilmTwitter and FilmTok and everyone else within earshot, that Dune: Part Two is not perfect. Yet, I recognize that the hyperbolic reactions come from an understandable place. Villenueve’s sequel is cinematic excellence, staggering and breathtaking to watch on a big screen. In this installment, the story is not bogged down as much by the need for incessant world-building. Dune: Part Two is more accessible, less convoluted, and full of performances which may define careers. Timothée Chalamet, for example, may henceforth become synonymous with the name Paul Atreides, as Mark Hamill is with Luke Skywalker and a young Harrison Ford with Indiana Jones. A groundbreaking work of art, the craftsmanship, the technical aspects, the vision and scope is all exceptional. Dune: Part Two is an embodiment of filmmakers, in nearly every capacity, functioning at the top of their game.

Who knows - it might even be possible that the 2025 Oscars may have already found its next Best Picture winner before 2024’s winner is even announced.

When you dig deeper and delve into the execution around the storytelling, that’s where gaffes and blemishes start to surface. I will humbly ask this: “Do we really care about the story or are we just blown away at a really amazing exhibit of images, sounds, and spectacle?” To me, though a more engaging and impressive achievement than the 2021 opener, Part Two still feels like a film trying to find the emotional ties it needs to truly embed within our hearts and minds.

Herbert’s book, by the end, evolves into a story of religious fanaticism and, honestly, to me, can be largely reduced down to the old cliché that absolute power corrupts absolutely. In Paul, we have a character who continues to be shown a darker path, seduced by a more nefarious approach to help solve the perceived ills of his kingdom. As the dust jacket closes on Herbert’s novel, Paul has embraced a bleak, somewhat shocking path, and here we see his moves partially guided by his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).

Forgive me if I wonder out loud whether her story might be the most interesting story being told in Dune: Part One and Two. Silly me… there I go questioning perfection again.

Chalamet is dynamic this time around, more comfortable standing front and center in the middle of an epic science-fiction adventure. Alongside Zendaya’s warrior Chani, they present a hope and romanticism to the potential good that can come from Paul aligning himself with the Fremen, people native to the planet Arrakis. Inevitably, the Fremen are on a collision course with the tyranny of the Harkonnen clan, led by the slovenly Baron (Stellan Skarsgård), his bumbling nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista) and eventually aided by a second, younger nephew, the menacing Feyd-Rautha, portrayed by a terrifying Austin Butler.

While spice is always the harbinger for conflict and war in this world, malevolence shapes the decisions of many this time around. Paul’s mother, upset that he has chosen an alliance with the Fremen, wriggles her way not only into the Fremen’s world, but finds herself steered into the occult-like command of the Bene Gesserit, a coven of women with psychic abilities. Working in shadows, they have a unique control over manipulating power dynamics in the “Duniverse.” As battles break out, tensions amplify, and the Harkonnen House attempts to take control of Arrakis and eradicate the Fremen once and for all, the Bene Gesserit are always watching.

With Dune, in full disclosure, I struggle with an apathy that clouds my retention of lots and lots of details from Herbert’s and Villenueve’s visions for this story. I feel constantly in “catch-up” mode here. Another struggle commonplace in adapting “Dune” from page to screen is the notion of less is more. I love how Villenueve and his team have built Arrakis in these two films. The seemingly endless desert landscapes, the intermittent rocky terrain, and the cold, impersonal internal set design by Oscar winners Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos and Shane Vieau is exactly what it needs to be. That simplicity fails to carry over in the story being told. And again, that’s where Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts seem to struggle the most.

Villenueve can craft exciting moments. Dune: Part Two offers several: Feyd-Rautha’s entrance into the film is stunning, a gladiator fight he participates in is constructed exceptionally well, as is Paul’s important early encounter with a sandworm. The emergence of Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh as Emperor Shaddam and his daughter, Princess Irulan, is important, offering a diabolical level of psychological manipulation to the story that forces Paul to reconsider everything he stands for and has fought for up to this point.

There is so much to admire and praise here, Dune: Part Two is too big to ignore and a major cinematic event. Though even with Chalamet quite convincing and Zendaya terrific in creating a character of depth, hesitant to trust and love while retaining a protective armor with her well-being, I remain at an arms length. While I love so much of what happens here, I remain a window shopper, unable to commit to any emotional investment in the gorgeous visuals placed before me.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Souhelia Yacoub, Anya Taylor-Joy

Director: Denis Villenueve
Written by: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts
Based on the novel “Dune” by Frank Herbert
Release Date: March 1, 2024
Warner Bros.

It may only be March 1, but this feels like this could be the most anticipated film of 2024. Dune: Part Two is finally here and playing constantly at a theater near you.

As visually and technically impressive as any film you have ever seen. This is true cinematic craftsmanship and everyone is working at the top of their game.

It is hard to believe Dune devotees will not absolutely love this. The early reactions have been insanely positive and there are so many moments that people will be talking about for a long time.

I’ll quietly wait my turn and ask, “Are we not being seduced by the expansive vision and presentation of Dune and giving a pass to the delivery of the actual story? Do we even care about the story all that much?”

If the 2021 Dune was not your jam, Dune: Part Two may impress you more from a cinematic standpoint, but there isn’t much here to change one’s opinion.