Rent Dune: Part Two (2024)

Dune: Part Two (aka Dune 2 / Dune: Part 2) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

After firmly establishing the tone and world-building of Frank Herbert's novel, director Denis Villeneuve finishes the remainder of the first book with more amazement than before. For embracing the story's epic nature, the director also doesn't get lost in the theatrics of giant sandworms and large-scale battles. It's a film faithful to the book but expands on it profoundly and engrossingly, as Villeneuve puts his distinctive stamp on this story.

Paul Atreides (Timothy Chalamete) seeks revenge after the Harkonnens wiped out his House's reign on Arakkis. With his pregnant mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), he finds refuge in the local tribes known as the Fremen. Although Paul had proved himself a capable warrior to the leader Skilgar (Javier Bardem), he has yet to convince the rest of the Fremen to accept him fully. Perhaps he could appeal to their spirituality and beliefs in a messiah. Perhaps Paul could be that messiah.

More accepting of Paul into the tribes is the skeptical Chani (Zendaya). Considering she doesn't believe in her people's tales of greater powers, she easily gravitates towards Paul. It isn't long before a romance forms as Paul commits to fighting back against the spice miners of the Harkonnens. But it's a romance that will rise and fall as Paul becomes further engrossed in Fremen's beliefs and his mother's culture of the Bene Gesserit to assert his dominance over the universe. Despite how much Paul tries to deny this part of himself, it is a destiny that he feels he cannot escape, becoming one string-puller amid many other string-pullers in this intergalactic war.

Paul’s quest for vengeance against the Harkonnens becomes more compelling for the enemies introduced in the film. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) has already entrusted his vicious Rabban (Dave Bautista) to rule over Arrakis but seeks more potential in the younger and more animalistic Feyd (Austin Butler), considering how much closer Butler plays up Feyd to look and sound even more like Skarsgård. The grand manipulator of the Atreides genocide, Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe, is also revealed, expertly played by Christopher Walken. Other unique additions to the cast include the narrating Emperor’s daughter, Princess Irulan, played by a wise Florence Pugh, and Paul’s yet-to-be-born sister, Alia, portrayed in a vision by Anya Taylor-Joy in a surprise cameo.

Villeneuve’s vision of the Dune universe is further expanded in eye-popping ways. I loved how the planet of the Harkonnen is so bleak with its black-and-white exteriors that fireworks look like ink blots in the sky. The paradise of Shaddam’s kingdom is a comparatively gorgeous Garden of Eden. The vast landscapes of Arrakis are mesmerizing in their scope, and the IMAX presentation makes them all the more fantastic. Much like Villeneuve’s other films, Dune continues to hold a firm grip on the eyes with its detailed and grand displays while still showcasing a cautionary story of one man taking advantage of religion to rise for revenge on his family. The script adapts just enough of the book to make it faithful while still being a Villeneuve film with its strokes of brilliance in wielding a much more foreboding tone.

Dune: Part 2 continues with everything I loved in the first film and brings it home for a breathtaking finale. The film’s direction clearly indicates that it wants to delve back in once more to adapt the follow-up novel Dune: Messiah. I greatly look forward to the next book hitting the big screen, as Villeneuve has pulled off what seemed like the toughest sci-fi book to ever be adapted into film or television.