Dune: Part Two Review
Theatrical Movie Review - Sci-fi
I know there are plenty of reasons to stay home and wait for movies to come to streaming. Covid is still a concern. The cost of movies, even without any snacks, can be a lot. At home, you can pause the film to use the restroom. I get it. But please. If you only see one movie out at a theater this year, you need to make it Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.”
This movie picks up right where “Dune: Part 1” left off, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), Chani (Zendaya), and the rest of the Fremen returning Janis’s body to their sietch on Arrakis. While there, Paul must prove his worth to the Fremen by participating in various tasks to show his connection to the desert, including harnessing and riding a sandworm. As he is doing this, his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), is planning with the other Bene Gesserit to raise Paul to the position of Lisan al Gaib, the messiah of the Fremen. Paul is concerned about what this means, so he works with Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) to bring down the spice production of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and his heir apparent, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Bulter).
Before I continue with my enthusiastic praise of this movie, I want to be clear that it assumes that you watched the 2021 film “Dune: Part One.” I included only a fraction of the characters in my synopsis, and this is a dense story. But that is also a stunning film, so the homework is worth it.
The thing that hits you the most about this movie is the sheer scale of it. From the world-building to the vast number of characters to the incredibly high stakes, this is one of the most expansive movies I have watched. Villeneuve spares nothing, and as a result, the audience is fully immersed in the world of Arrakis.
The cast, many returning from the first film, is all spectacular. We finally get more of Zendaya in this movie, and her star power is on full display, particularly in her final on-screen moments. Ferguson is powerful and dominating as the Reverend Mother. And Chalamet fully steps into his role as Paul, giving both the Fremen and the audience the Messiah they have been craving.
Hans Zimmer’s score is sweeping, and its inclusion and, in one scene, exclusion adds so much to the experience. Greig Fraser’s cinematography plunges us deep into Arrakis. The editing from Joe Walker allows this nearly three-hour epic to fly by. The visual effects are gorgeous and, honestly, simply look real. The sound is immersive and engaging.
I try to avoid hyperbole because I don’t think it serves film criticism well if every movie is declared a masterpiece. But “Dune: Part Two” is a masterpiece. Every part works together to serve the film-going experience, resulting in a packed theater sitting in stunned silence as the film reaches its climax. See this in a theater - movies like this are why they exist.
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on March 3, 2024.