Released: March 2024
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Rated PG-13
Run Time: 166 Minutes
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Genre: Science Fiction
Cast:
Timothée Chalamet: Paul Atreides
Zendaya: Chani
Rebecca Ferguson: Lady Jessica
Javier Bardem: Stilgar
Josh Brolin: Gurney Halleck
Austin Butler: Feyd-Rautha
Florence Pugh: Princess Irulan
Christopher Walken: Emperor Shaddam IV
Dave Bautista: Beast Rabban
Stellan Skarsgård: Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
It’s not very often that I walk out of a movie theater and remain speechless for a particular period of time. When I’m rendered speechless, it’s usually in awe of how terrible a movie is. And when the credits start rolling, I’m up and out of the theater pretty quickly, it’s rare that I just sit in stunned silence at what I had just seen. The last time that I remember that happening to me was Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and that was over 20 years ago. Tonight, I saw a movie that left me gob-smacked and stunned. Not in awe of how bad it was, but in sheer amazement of the incredible science fiction epic that was Dune Part 2. I’m going to attempt to put into words how absolutely incredible this experience was. Let me say this first: See this movie in the biggest theater possible. It deserves it.
This film starts immediately after Part One with Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica being led into the desert by a group of desert warriors known as the Fremen, led by the mysterious Stilgar. Paul and Jessica attempt to pick up the pieces after the treacherous Harkonnens launch a sneak attack on the Atreides, obliterating their great House. With help from the Fremen, Paul learns the ways of the Fremen. He eventually reunites with his old friend and mentor Gurney Halleck, and with Paul’s emerging powers as a possible Kwisatz Haderack, they plan to overthrow the Emperor and destroy their enemies. I haven’t read the book that this movie’s based, but I will be shortly, but the story of Dune and Paul Atreides’ rise to power is a fairly complex affair that involves a great deal of treachery, tragedy, and bloody warfare. There’s also a great deal of religious and political themes at play here, but it’s handled in such a way that people who haven’t read the book can pick up on it. It’s a powerful story that’s motivated by revenge, but it’s also a cautionary tale about the blind belief of messianic figures and the devastation that can bring. There’s a reason why Frank Herbert’s novel is widely celebrated as a staple of science fiction literature. It’s deep, thought-provoking, while also providing an extraordinary adventure. Denis Villeneuve has managed to craft two truly outstanding movies that are going to set the new standard of epic science fiction for YEARS to come.
I thought Part 1 was an absolutely stunning film. Part 2 takes to a whole new level. When you talk about epic, it’s not just epic giant battles, but also grand and sweeping vistas. The movie was shot on location in UAE, Jorand, Hungary, and Italy. Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of CGI involved here, but they shot in real locations, which gives the movie its grand scale. The cinematography is some of the best I’ve ever seen. I have to bring up Geidi Prime, the home planet of House Harkonnen. It’s gorgeous, yet bleak. The planet orbits a black sun, so the film takes on a black-and-white feel during exterior shots, especially in the arena. We actually get to see more of Geidi Prime than in any other adaptation of Dune. It’s AMAZING what they’ve done. Obviously, Arrakis is a wide-open and gorgeous desert that’s peppered with man-built structures as well incredible rock formations that conceal sietchs, which house the Fremen people. Everything about this movie is spectacular. The worm-riding sequences are…well…epic. The way it’s done is so cool, especially when Paul calls a huge one and rides it for the first time. The battle sequences are executed masterfully. Again, epic doesn’t really begin to describe the scale of the action here. The movie’s a slow-burn, but the bursts of action throughout make it worthwhile. The main battle at Arrakeen towards the end of the movie is absolutely wild.
The performances in this movie are just incredible. Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan gave the character a particular grace and old-fashioned elegance and intelligence that makes her somewhat suspicious. Josh Brolin was great as Gurney, bringing a gritty determination and force to the role. Javier Bardem just knocks it out of the park as Stilgar. The character is a clearly a religious-type, so Javier gives that character the kind charisma that one would need from a leader. Rebecca Ferguson just nails it as Jessica. While the character was portrayed somewhat differently in previous adaptations, here, she’s a cold and calculating Reverend Mother who is also pregnant with Paul’s sister. Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha is brilliant casting. Coming off his role as Elvis, Butler’s Feyd is a ruthless and completely psychotic individual with a lust for violence, not entirely unlike Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight. Stellan Skarsgård, while nowhere near as bombastic as Kenneth McMillan’s floating fat man, is far more sinister and threatening, especially when certain truths are revealed. Zendaya is phenomenal as Chani, Paul’s love interest in the film. The character is fierce, intelligent, and an incredible fighter in her own right, and Zendaya brings all that and more. She gives the character an emotional depth that was sorely lacking in the other movies. But the real star of the shows is Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides. While he was really good in Part 1, he shows that he’s more than capable of bringing the emotion, the gravitas, and the absolute grit and determination that the character requires. There are scenes in this movie where I feel he is going to get a Best Actor nomination at the very least. It’s been said that Mr. Chalamet is the next Daniel Day-Lewis. I’m beginning to agree with that assessment. He is an absolute FORCE to be reckoned with here and his chemistry with the people around him feels real.
The Dune movies may very well be Denis Villeneuve’s finest cinematic achievement. Visually and narratively, these movies have come to define what it means to be a science fiction epic. The music by Hans Zimmer is very striking, grand, yet feels like a character in and of itself. Dune Parts 1 and 2 are going to define the genre for a long time. They are Denis Villeneuve’s Lord of the Rings. He’s currently writing the script for the next entry in the Dune Saga, called Dune Messiah, also based on the second novel from Frank Herbert. I can almost guarantee you that it’ll get the greenlight when Denis decides to make it. But it’s not the only Dune project in the works. There’s supposedly a series based on the Bene Gesserit sisterhood that’s in the works. It’s supposed to detail the work of the sisterhood around producing the Kwisatz Haderack, or super being, over the course of 10,000 years. I don’t know if it’s still in the cards, but Dune Part 2’s success might actually allow it to happen. As of this writing, Dune Part 2 is predicted to make about 70-80 million on its opening weekend, which is really good for a movie of this scale. Will it be a billion dollar movie? Probably not, but I would estimate a 600-700 million dollar windfall. How this movie does overseas remains to be seen, but I expect it to do pretty well. Everybody involved with the production of these movies should be proud of the work they’ve done. It is a cinematic achievement that I haven’t seen the likes of in a very long time. This is the kind of movie that cinema was invented for. It is the reason why people go to the movies. It’s not Star Wars, so set your expectations about what kind of movie you’re seeing. If you have an open mind, Dune is one of the most gratifying cinematic experiences you could have. I haven’t mentioned any negatives, because there really aren’t any. I guess you could say that I wanted at least 2 more hours out of it, but we can’t always have what we want. What we got here is truly special.