Review: “Dune: Part Two”

There is an almost unlimited list of items to praise about Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up to 2021’s “Dune: Part One”, but we must start somewhere.

Fans of the director’s 2016 masterful slow-burn, “Arrival”, will appreciate Villeneuve’s ability to give imposing physicality to large-scale objects sitting in vast areas of land. In “Arrival”, viewers only truly experienced this via a single mysterious spaceship floating above the ground in Montana, but its intimidating presence was undeniable.

In the world-extending “Dune: Part Two”, Villeneuve and his team take this up several notches, impressively presenting their vision for a diverse range of spacecraft and machinery, including things that fly, things that dig and things that kill. This imagination and creativity, supported by unerring sound mixing, contributes to an immersive cinematic experience that won’t soon be forgotten.

Of course, none of this would matter in the absence of a strong story. Fortunately, “Dune: Part Two” builds sumptuously upon the foundations laid in the first film, with change aplenty for Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) to endure. The death of his father and the end of his house at the hands of the grotesque Harkonnens have left him with no option but to learn the ways of the Fremen, the blue-eyed natives of the desert planet Arrakis. Aided by the self-interested efforts of his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul fights for acceptance amongst the Fremen, always aware through his visions that his actions may have a devastating impact on Arrakis and beyond.

One of the most interesting aspects of this film is its perspectives on religion and mythology. To the zealots among the Fremen, Paul is the Lisan al Gaib, the messiah that will lead them to paradise. To the others, including love interest Chani (Zendaya), he is a false prophet. Villeneuve goes to great lengths to examine the merits of both sides, as well as the toll leadership can take when thrust upon someone so young.

After a ferociously entertaining opening, Villeneuve slows the pace, but there are several scenes scattered throughout the film’s runtime that should induce awe and admiration. Paul’s attempts to learn to harness the power of the terrifying sandworms, as well as the violent introduction of Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, are just two examples.

If there are limitations to “Dune: Part Two”, they lie in the challenge of being the middle film of a trilogy. Not only does it have to tell its own story, it has to connect to the threads of what came before and what will come after. As such, the latter part of the film drags in parts, as Villeneuve sets up the conflicts that will determine the series’ conclusion.

Of course, all should be forgiven due to the scale, style, score, and spectacle we have been gifted. Not since “The Two Towers” has such a boundless universe been realized so remarkably. If the third instalment can match the quality of its predecessors, “Dune” will join “The Lord of the Rings” films in exalted company.