Dune: Part Two Review - What We Should Want In Our Sci-Fi Blockbusters

Ken Jones, OnScreen Blog Chief Film Critic

2021’s Dune was simultaneously released in theaters and HBO Max for a limited time because of the pandemic. With things having returned to more normalcy, its promised sequel, Dune: Part Two has released wide in 2024 after being delayed from a Fall 2023 release because of the Hollywood labor strikes. The delays were worth the wait, as it builds masterfully off of the first film.

Part Two deal with the fallout from the fall of House Atreides on the desert planet of Arrakis at the hands of House Harkonnen. Paul (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), managed to survive and were rescued by a Fremen group led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem). They begin to live amongst the Fremen and make common cause with them as they have a shared enemy in the Harkonnens,

Not only do they have common cause, but there is also the matter of Paul being viewed increasingly as the Lisan al Gaib, a promised, off-world messiah among the Fremen, fueled in no small part by Lady Jessica sowing seeds of it amongst the most fanatical believers among the Fremen while also launching a campaign to win over the scared and the doubters among them.

This propaganda/persuasion campaign coincides with Paul joining the Fedaykin, freedom fighters of the Fremen, and participating in what amounts to an insurgency against the Harkonnen control of Arrakis and disrupting their spice production. Paul also develops a romantic relationship with Chani (Zendaya), which, along with his visions, makes him reticent to pick up the mantle of his destiny.

Much like the first film, there are fantastic desert vistas displayed in gorgeous cinematography, the kind of film that the big screen was made for. Even beyond the desert planet of Arrakis, there is an exquisite black and white scene set on the Harkonnen home planet that introduces Austin Butler’s Fayd-Rautha, a psychotic nephew of Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron.

The political intrigue of the first film is just as potent in this chapter, with the Emperor (Christopher Walken) finally being revealed, as well as his daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Paul’s desire to fight beside the Fremen is fueled in part by his desire to avenge his slain father; it is an ambitious plan to take down the Harkonnens and draw out the emperor. As Paul tells Stilgar and his fellow fighters, the Fremen have been fighting the Harkonnens for decades, but House Atreides has fought them for centuries.

The behind the scenes maneuvering of the Bene Gesserit, led by Charlotte Rampling’s Reverand Mother, are also further explored, not just in how they have a hand in the politics of this galaxy-spanning empire, but also in the shaping of religious narratives like the Fremen’s belief in a promised messiah.

Bardem’s Stilgar and Zendaya’s Chani represent conflicting viewpoints amongst the Fremen. Stilgar, while not a fanatic, recognizes signs around Paul and starts to believe more and more that he is in fact the messiah in Fremen prophecy. Chani, on the other hand, views religion as a way to control the masses and, despite her romantic ties to Paul, is dismissive or even outright mocking of all things concerning prophecy.

There’s exciting action in this film. An early scene features a Harkonnen ambush of the Fremen as they are escorting Paul and Lady Jessica to Sietch Tabr. The action steadily escalates through the course of the movie, showing a few insurgent attacks against spice harvesters, a Gladiator-esque sequence with Fayd-Rautha, and culminating with an all-out assault in the end, with sandworms taking center stage.

One thing director Denis Villeneuve nails in so many of his films is the ability to keep a big-scale story focused on a personal level to keep the audience invested in the narrative, whether that be Kate in Sicario, Dr. Louise Banks in Arrival, K in Blade Runner 2049, or Paul here in Dune. The scale of his storytelling has increased alongside the studio budgets, but the stories have remained grounded in investing on a personal level with the characters.

The center of this film is the inner conflict of Paul Atreides. He knows his mother’s influence and manipulation of Bene Gesserit. He knows what he sees in his visions. He is a reluctant messiah, not because he doubts himself, but because he fears what he may become if he embraces it and what he will have to give up in order to do what must be done.

He seemingly clings to his time with Chani and the Fedaykin, hoping against hope that it may be enough and that he does not have to embrace his destiny, which he believes will cause a holy war throughout the empire.

Chalamet really commands the film, especially in a speech where he essentially picks up the mantle of his lineage on both sides of his genealogy. Throughout the two films the audience has mostly seen Paul be a willing student, soaking up everything that his father, Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), and Stilgar have been teaching him. When Paul finally embraces his destiny, Chalamet is captivating and believable and feels like a genuine movie star.

I also really enjoyed Austin Butler performance as the psychotic Fayd-Rautha. I love that aside from the full-body alopecia and extreme paleness, a defining characteristic of being a true Harkonnen is to sound like a Skarsgård, a clear line of demarcation between Fayd-Rautha and his older brother Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista), with whom the Baron becomes increasingly disappointed in as he fails to quelch the Fremen insurgency.

Not having read the book, online research tells me that Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts made some changes to the story found in Herbert’s novel, but they seem to be what is best for the story being adapted to film. The film also concludes with a door open to a potential third film, which would launch further into the series as this film completes the adaptation of the first book.

Dune: Part Two is thrilling, big-scale storytelling made for the big screen. Villeneuve and company have done a tremendous job adapting a story that many thought was too unwieldy to be adapted into a coherent film (not including the Lynch zealots out there). It has great acting, tells a great story, and features tremendous worldbuilding. This is the best of what sci-fi has to offer, and it is what you want from your blockbusters. Long live the fighters and let the spice flow.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars