Dune: Part Two

An excruciatingly long two years and four months later, the completion of Denis Villeneuve’s vision for Dune has arrived at last. Between the release of both films, insurmountable expectations for Part Two had festered within me as it’s the second half of a film that I believe to be an all-time great. But, as challenging as it was for Villeneuve to translate the pages of Dune to screen, he’s risen to the occasion yet again and surpassed the wishes and desires of myself and many others with his exceedingly triumphant adaptation of the science-fiction classic fans had proclaimed to be unfilmable for ages. Dune: Part Two is a towering feat in filmmaking that reaches levels of grandeur vast enough to make Part One look like an intimate drama. With a powerhouse ensemble cast and captivating cinematography, the tragic threads of fate, religion, and colonialism that originate in its predecessor culminate in a sequel whose genre-defining legacy is bound to be forged into cinema history and remembered for years to come.

Part Two picks up directly where the first leaves us with Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) having found the Fremen led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) with Chani (Zendaya) in tow after House Harkonnen’s massacre of House Atreides. Now, Paul seeks to exact his revenge against the Harkonnens and take control of Spice -- “Power over Spice holds power over all”. He quickly finds that to complete his mission for vengeance he must choose between one of two paths: the noble one and assimilate into the Fremen culture or step into his supposed destined role as the Lisan al Gaib, a Jesus-like prophet planted by the Bene Gesserit, a centuries-old collective of influential women (including Lady Jessica), and risk waging a Holy War as foretold by his visions.

A chilling Paul Atreides (Chalamet) succumbing to his destined role as the Lisan al Gaib.

If Timothee Chalamet hasn’t already proved himself as the current leading man in Hollywood, Dune: Part Two is set to cement that. Chalamet profoundly portrays Paul’s inevitable and calamitous ascent into the Lisan al Gaib, or the Kwisatz Haderach as the Bene Gesserit proclaim. He adds a sense of melancholy to Paul’s struggle over how much control he has over his fate as his sense of morality is pushed to its limits. It allows us to consider whether to sympathize with the character’s lack of power over forces larger than him or to hold him accountable for his self-serving actions and the unjust power he wields over the marginalized group of Fremen as an interloper. And, as the cunning Lady Jessica – forebodingly played by the always talented Rebecca Ferguson – continues to campaign across Arrakis to amass followers for the prophet, Paul’s struggle is externalized as he’s stuck between the destiny his own mother has forged for him and his loyalty to his newfound love Chani and by extension, the Fremen. This push and pull experienced both by Paul and Chani is where the film’s resonant themes and emotional beats lie.

While Paul undoubtedly remains the main character of the film, Villeneuve’s intentional decision to frame his actions through Zendaya’s Chani allows the actress to shine this time around and act as the lens through which the audience perceives the story.  Her emotive eyes outwardly express the sorrow of witnessing the person you’ve grown to love succumbing to prophecies that contradict their being and their concurrent infiltration into your community to gain self-righteous power. Zendaya expresses the weight of this emotion without having to utter a word. Both their performances bring their characters back down to reality and portray them as fully realized people with inherent character flaws and desires. Austin Butler’s Feyd Rautha ultimately steals the show though, despite his quite limited screen time for being the main antagonist. Rabid and animalistic, Butler fully transforms into the masochist hinged on ousting Paul from his quest for dominance and regaining control of Spice production on Arrakis for House Harkonnen. The rest of the supporting cast is stellar; Florence Pugh’s regal Princess Irulan, Lea Seydoux’s short-lived seductive Margot Fenring, and Javier Bardem’s surprisingly comedic Stilgar.

Much like Part One, a great part of the film’s brilliance arises from its technical marvel. The production design is a sight to behold yet again, with even more of the Imperium to explore this time around with Geidi Prime’s sleek, black architecture that screams fear and dominance and the Fremen strongholds, or Sietches, that evoke a feeling of ancient wonder. Greig Fraser’s dazzling cinematography, with intricate fight scenes doused in striking orange or characterized by harsh black and whites, serves as a window into a lived-in universe that makes viewers feel insignificant and minute in comparison. Similar to how the film’s themes build upon the foundation laid by Part One, Hans Zimmer’s score for Part Two expands upon the original score as he tells a layered story through music alone. It comes full circle as he revisits the themes established in the former film to create entirely new epic pieces that make the visuals much grander, and emotional scenes pack more of a punch to create another masterpiece of a soundtrack.

Dune: Part Two is a film of Biblical proportions in terms of scope and the story it tells. Villeneuve captures the grim and bleak nature of Paul Atreides’ circumstances, a young man dreadfully barrelling towards impending doom and forced to be the face of a Holy War, while simultaneously giving us sprawling set pieces rarely seen in cinema anymore. He bears the weight of translating Dune’s immense magnitude alongside co-writer John Spaihts, that due to the sheer stature of it all, does suffer in structure and pacing at times. But, Part Two ultimately prevails as a crowning achievement of unbridled ambition and passion. The product is a transcendental experience that elicits the closest one could get to reaching pure ecstasy while watching a film.

Verdict: It’s few and far between that films with such ambitions are executed with flying colors and for this, it’s the easiest Nick Pick in a while.