Emma Brown
Reporter & Managing Editor
“Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” “The Godfather Part Two.” “Aliens.” “Terminator Two: Judgement Day.” “The Dark Night.” “Dune: Part Two.” Sometimes sequels are just better than the first installment.
Is this what it felt like to see “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” in 1980?
“Dune: Part Two” poster courtesy of Warner Brothers Entertainment
“Dune: Part Two” is invigorating, exciting, explosive, and action-packed on a scale that puts standard theater projection to shame. This movie is meant for IMAX and is meant to be seen in the dark, immersive confinements of a movie theater auditorium.
Somehow Denis Villeneuve managed to adapt an unadaptable book, a feat that has stumped two previous film directors, including cult auteur David Lynch. Villeneuve’s insane amount of creative vision and cinematic knowledge is on full display as Paul Atredies begins to meet his fate as the Lisan al-Giab.
Timothée Chalamet shines as Paul Atredies, who adopts the Fremen name Muad’Dib as he learns the ways of the desert and is tested to see if he is the true messiah. Paul’s character arc drastically changes throughout “Dune: Part Two” as his shy, royal façade is traded for a ragged, determined and vengeful mindset.
One particular scene shows Chalamet’s acting strengths and his ability to showcase Paul’s arc as he tells the Fremen that they should “fear the moment” of his coming. Chalamet’s performance is boosted by his relationship with Zendaya’s Chani, who was not as present in “Part One.”
Chani, like many of the northern Fremen, is skeptical of the Lisan-al-Giab beliefs, which allows Zendaya to portray Chani with sensitivity and brash determination when needed. Zendaya speaks volumes without words, she uses her eyes and body language to tell Chani’s complicated feelings and thoughts, a challenge that not many actors can overcome.
The scale of the movie’s entire visuals and action sequences will leave you starry-eyed and amazed thanks to cinematographer Greg Fraser’s ability to make a desert-color palette full of life and story.
Fraser captures the sensitive moments between Chani and Paul, the mystique and eeriness of Lady Jessica, and the previously unshown ways of the desert the Fremen easily command. He shows the desert plains of Arakkis in its boundless beauty of sparkling spice, eclipses of the desert planet’s two moons, and the stark difference between Fremen territory and Harkonnen rule.
“Dune: Part Two” also visually introduces new places and new characters that are memorable, haunting and vitally important to Frank Herbert’s story continuation.
One of these newly introduced characters has been recently compared to Heath Ledger’s Joker, and that is Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen played by Austin Butler.
Butler has shown he is a chameleon actor who amazingly can adapt into any character in any place at any time. He plays Feyd-Rautha with unrelenting brutality and a certain eeriness like that of a villain in a horror movie. Butler goes toe-to-toe with Chalamet’s Paul as two potential messiahs of incredibly different extremes.
Character development, story continuation, cinematography, dialogue, action choreography, visual effects and pacing are at a level directors can only dream of accomplishing. The three-hour runtime breezes by as Villeneuve never lets up on the rising climax, tension and the idea that there is plenty of room to continue visually expanding Herbert’s story.
Picky book fans may be extremely eagle-eyed when noticing Villeneuve’s changes to Herbert’s books, but some critics are comparing his changes to Peter Jackson and his “Lord of the Rings” films. While Villeneuve does divert from Herbert’s writing, he still manages to make a film that will go on to captivate generations and make your grandkids jealous that you saw it in theaters.
“Dune: Part Two” was made with a $190 million budget, and as of March 18, it crossed $500 million at the box office since its March 1 release. In comparison, “Dune: Part One” had a $165 million budget and made $435 million in its entire theatrical run in 2021. Villeneuve has a massive blockbuster on his hands.
Since “Part Two” has already proven to be a blockbuster smash hit and surefire awards contender, all that is left now is for Warner Brothers to greenlight and announce Villeneuve’s adaption of “Dune: Messiah.” For now, repeated watches of “Dune: Part Two” are the ideal way to spend your time at a movie theater.