The first Dune movie released in 2021 with an incredible cast led by Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, and Zendaya (for all 7 minutes she was in it). A 3 hour long slow-burn into a rich galaxy unlike anything else, it was wildly ambitious, and paid off with a final act full of twists, but only some payoffs. But after attending the Dune: Part Two premiere HCTX was invited to this past Wednesday (Alamo Drafthouse, you rock!), the infamous story that changed the world of science fiction forever got its deserved reckoning on the big screen.
With interplanetary warfare only rivaled by Star Wars, beautiful visual effects, and the most star-studded cast seen in a blockbuster (for example, a household name, who’s been appearing at Dune: Part Two premieres with an unrevealed role — spoiler alert for who! — was in it for only a brief scene, but has major implications for the remainder of the story), Dune: Part Two takes all the build-up set in the first movie and hits beat after beat satisfyingly.
Viewers will learn more about the mysterious Fremin, who take center stage with Paul Atreides for the continuation of his story. The runtime also devotes time beyond the planet of Arrakis to incredible scenes of the Harkonnens’ brutal culture and politics (Dave Bautista and Austin Butler take the screen as a brutal pair of brothers, and mortal enemies of the Atreides and Fremin), and the careful planning of the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and his sheltered daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) as she works closer with the mysterious Bene Gesserit to try to grasp for a chance to stop the approaching war.
Balancing the supernatural bordering on horror and themes of religious zealotry with the steady turning up of tension, there wasn’t a slow moment in the entire, nearly 3-hour runtime. Dune: Part Two shows how Dune the novel solidified itself as a classic, taking a typical speculative fiction story of battling for resources and themes of colonization and oppression, albeit with fantastic world-building, to a whole new level.
The standouts were for sure Chalamet and Zendaya with their on-screen relationship and dynamic, but they also portrayed nuanced characters beyond their romance. Chani remains one of the only people left who sees Paul (Chalamet) as an equal, challenging him and seeing him through honest eyes as he rises to the prophecy, and Zendaya shows the hardened exterior of a Fremin warrior along with that tenderness beautifully. One of my personal favorite moments of the movie is following an unequivocal change in Paul, and Chalamet commands the screen (and a massive cave of Fremin) with all the epic air of a prophesied hero.
Others that I loved included Austin Butler’s incredibly choreographed fight scenes as Feyd-Rautha (there is a scene in the climax that is dead silent besides the noises of fighting, and I don’t think I’ve seen a better hand-to-hand choreography in my life), Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica that falls deeper and deeper for the beckoning power her son’s prophecy implicates, and Paul’s father figure among the Fremin, Stilgar (Javier Bardem), who is a study of the variety among the desert’s people in their religion and cultural values.
With a tantalizing Hans Zimmer score behind the strongest scenes of Paul being pulled into his role as a prophet that had me holding my breath and sinking further into my seat, seeing it in theaters is really the best way to experience Dune: Part Two. There’s something about seeing the sandworms and the true extent of their devastation on the big screen (and even dipping your hand into a sandworm-shaped popcorn bucket!), and the immersive experience of the cinema that I think this film deserves.
Even if by the end you aren’t picking up the (famously dense) 1965 novel immediately like me, seeing the conclusion of that first installment’s story in the hands of Hollywood’s best is beyond worth it, no matter if science fiction isn’t your typical cup of tea!