Courtney Howard // Film Critic
DUNE PART TWO
Rated PG-13, 2 hours and 46 minutes
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Babs Olusanmokun
If audiences were surprised and impressed by the first installment of director Denis Villeneuve’s awe-inducing adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, DUNE, they will be absolutely floored by his follow-up, DUNE: PART TWO. The visionary Quebecois auteur continues to see his imaginative iteration through, having laid the substantial building blocks on which this second part rests comfortably, conjuring plenty of cleverly conceived thrills and gripping, jaw-dropping spectacle. It redefines the sci-fi genre. Immersive, impressive, and wildly exhilarating, it’s an adrenaline rush to the head and heart, soaring in its breathtaking action sequences as much as it sings in its refined, evocative stillness.
We pick up with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) directly after the events of the first film, having escaped the Harkonnens’ genocidal, hostile takeover of Arrakis – at the chubby hands of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård, who’s as fat and sassy as ever) and commander Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista) – and proven themselves worthy to the Fremen – specifically leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem). This has also led Paul to the woman of his literal dreams, fighter Chani (Zendaya). After being temporarily waylaid by Harkonnen soldiers, the group is returning to their home to give Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun) a proper burial.
There’s a prophecy that a great leader – Lisan al Gaib – is due to appear, and the signs pointing to his imminent arrival have made clear to believers that it’s Paul. However, not everyone is eager to accept this outsider as their messiah. Half of the Fremen don’t – and neither does Paul, who continues to struggle with his destiny and the disturbing visions plaguing him. He’s worried he’ll start a holy war. As the Baron greedily ups his demands for spice, Paul learns to fight alongside the Fremen, putting his patented Atreides military strategy to the test, disrupting production in hopes of restoring the planet to his newfound family. Yet there are unseen forces conspiring to make Paul’s rise to glory a treacherous one – and there are lots of twists and turns in his journey towards being hailed as the Kwisatz Haderach, a man of immense power and precognition.
Ascension is a key concept in this second chapter, both in the thematic and narrative sense. It’s akin to THE GODFATHER 2’s character evolution. Characters ascend into their power. Some are hoisted by their own petard through careless, calculated grabs for eternal supremacy. We even spot some common connections between the tribulations and triumphs. With Paul, we feel the entrancing push-pull of his continually unfolding arc. It’s electrifying – as is Chalamet’s captivating performance, depicted in sequences where Paul commands attention as the charismatic leader everyone has told him he could be, and in other scenes where he honors his father’s legacy, once a burden but now a blessing. Lady Jessica’s transformation into the Fremen’s Reverend Mother is also rather entrancing, given her shady machinations guiding her son to his future. Ferguson eats up every morsel of her rejuvenated, meaty role. Hans Zimmer’s compositions, tapping into a foreboding, unsettling undercurrent that ties mother and son together, are pure genius.
While Chani was a more ethereal presence for much the first film, earning her eventual introduction, she factors in so much more here, gifting the film with its beating heart and soul. Zendaya turns in singular work, nimbly combining strength and vulnerability. Her expressive, nuanced reactions are amongst the picture’s most indelible images. Zimmer’s tender love themes for the couple are sonically beguiling, pulling at the heartstrings. Bautista, with all Rabban’s bluster and intimidating physicality, gives another ferocious performance, bringing out multiple facets of the character whose rage percolates on the surface. Plus, Brolin’s Gurney returns and brings a hot dose of revenge with him.
As for the new cast, Austin Butler is seductively unhinged, playing the Baron’s nephew Feyd-Rautha, who’s brought from Giedi Prime’s black and white world to unleash his brutality on Arrakis. His scenes with Léa Seydoux, who plays the Bene Gesserit’s Lady Margot Fenring, are deviously sexy. They ignite the screen, making us wish those sequences were longer. Though used sparingly, Florence Pugh, who plays Reverend Mother Mohiam’s (Charlotte Rampling) student Princess Irulan, turns in career best work. Costume designer Jacqueline West cloaks her in regal creams and metallic silvers to emphasize the gray area she and her father, the Emperor (Christopher Walken), find themselves in.
Villeneuve keeps the action scenes lean, clean and mean. From the stellar photography of the fight choreography either in the dry desert daylight or murky orange fog of war, to the Fedaykin’s ambush of the Harkonnen harvester, where Paul helps Chani and her people obliterate the first of many mechanical monsters, these sequences deliver a visceral sensation where we can’t help but get a contact high. Villeneuve masterfully builds tension and thrills within the construction of Paul’s sandworm riding test. The 360-degree sound design bores into our chests. This is why we go to the movies. Later, Paul and Feyd’s face-off at sunset showcases beauty and brutality in equal measure, as aided by cinematographer Greig Fraser’s ace skills, illuminating character and movement.
With shocking reveals, wily betrayals and political scheming, DUNE: PART 2 is certainly the juicier of the two chapters. While it ends in a similar manner to the first, hanging on a slight edge of a new adventure for these characters, it leaves the door open for a necessary third feature (to complete a prospective trilogy that’s bound to be announced once big box office receipts return). Made for repeat viewings, its bold, daring, and epic scale must be experienced on the largest screen possible.
Grade: A
DUNE: PART TWO is in theaters on March 1.
