Review: “Dune: Part Two”

Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part 1” was both a critical and financial success.  While it was wildly popular at the time, I had my reservations.  In all the ways it excelled, it still left me feeling a bit empty and underwhelmed.  As the name implied, it was all set up and exposition for further parts that may or may not ever come.  Thankfully, Part Two was greenlit within days, and although the recent strikes pushed its release to 2024, it was a relatively short wait for something this epic.

Part Two begins mere hours after the conclusion of the previous movie.  Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), have been taken in by a small group of Fremen, led by a man of strong convictions, Stilgar (Javier Bardem).  Stilgar is deeply religious and has been waiting for the prophesized messiah to appear.  Although he’s been wrong many times before, Stilgar firmly believes Paul to be the Messiah, and gleefully finds “proof” to fuel his faith in the smallest of things.  Jessica is quick to encourage the zealots and works to convince the skeptics that her son is indeed their Messiah.

As Paul draws closer to the Fremen’s way of life and begins to fall in love with Chani (Zendaya), he rejects the notion that he is the promised one, as strongly as his mother promotes it.  However, he has no qualms about leading the Fremen against the forces that occupy their planet.  The zealots follow him because they believe, and the skeptics follow him because of his outsider knowledge.  Together, they are able to disrupt the flow of spice enough that the Emporer (Christopher Walken) notices and Baron Harkonnen’s (Stellan Skarsgård) hold over the planet is threatened.

On the surface, the story of Paul leading the native Fremen to victory over their foreign oppressors reeks of the “white savior” trope.  Part Two deftly sidesteps this cliche and blurs the lines of Paul’s morality.  He easily admits that his true motivation is vengeance for his father’s murder.  It’s made clear that the myth of a messiah has been intentionally planted in the Fremen culture by the Bene Gesserit, specifically as a means of control.  As the story progresses, the web of characters becomes more intertwined, and we begin to question who truly is in control and to what end.

Villeneuve fleshes out Part Two with an even more impressive ensemble cast than before.  Zendaya continues to impress, conveying far more with physical acting than dialog.  Florence Pugh is another welcome addition although she only has a few scenes.  Austin Butler is barely recognizable as the ruthless Feyd-Rautha, especially with a voice eerily similar to Skarsgård‘s Baron.  Be sure to stay for the credits to see who voices Paul’s unborn sister, Alia.

With such a large cast, it’s impressive that everyone has as much screen presence as they do, even for a nearly three-hour movie.  A runtime this long is the death knell for many films, but with so much story crammed in, it moves forward at a breakneck pace.  This might be the only real fault of the film, if you can call it that.  So much happens so fast, that we lose a sense of time.  Have days passed? Weeks? Months?  Shouldn’t Alia have been born by now?  It’s a minor complaint for a movie that actually feels like the epic it is.  Villeneuve has taken everything from Part One and kicked it up a few notches.  Part Two is bigger, louder, funnier, and weirder than the first.  It’s such an improvement that it feels like the first was just practice for him to make this one. And that’s saying something!