Dune: Part Two Review
Dune: Part Two is a 2024 American epic science fiction film, directed and produced by Denis Villeneuve. It is the sequel to the 2021 Dune: Part One as the second-half of the two part adaptation of the 1965 epic fantasy Dune novel written by Frank Herbert.
The movie primarily covers the events in the second half of the first book in The Dune Saga Collection. Paul Atreides aligns with the Fremen against the Harkonnen to seek vengeance for what happened to his family…
The Good
Dune: Part Two is a visual masterpiece, transforming a bleak and hostile landscape into a stunning cinematic production that’s beautiful and desolate at the same time. You can literally feel the arid atmosphere as its ethereal soundtrack plays… It didn’t help I was watching it during a rather hot and dry spell thanks to the El Nino….
The use of colour or its lack was also used to create an atmosphere of dread and horror in the gladiotoresque world of the Harkonnen and a terrifyingly haunting antagonist, lethal, ruthless and ambitious…..
Paul Atreides’ character has grown a full arc from the previous movie where he was a confused boy, unsure of his place and purpose in the world, to a more commanding presence, willing to take his fate into his hands and mould it towards or away from a certain path…
Paul and Chani finally get some screen together, which was teased at a lot in the promotion for the previous movie, but Zendaya’s character barely clocked 7 minutes of screen time in the 2 hours and 35 minutes movie… This time you get a bit more of them… together.
The movie storyline explores themes of political intrigue and religious philosophy which raise provocative questions on how leaders can sometimes (un)wittingly lead their people down a path which is difficult to turn away from once committed, plus highlighting how some use religion to control people…
The bad
The movie jumps into the story from where the last movie left off 3 years ago while also introducing new characters and developing previous ones that had been seemingly over-looked, which can get slightly confusing—you may want to rewatch the previous movie or at least catching up on a recap before you start on Dune Part: Two lest you spend a lot of time trying to get up to speed.
Having read the Dune Books after I watched the first movie, I have gotten an understanding of the source, the are some things which the movie glossed over without doing justice…. For example, the desert power…
In Dune Part: two you don’t quite clearly see how the Fremen ride the giant worms or manage to steer or keep them above the surface. The parts where you actually see them riding are usually depicted blearily with lots of swirling dust covering the screen (which I guess would be how it would be, if one rode a large worm in the desert… so there is that)
After a two year wait, the movie does not feel like it delivers the expectations and closure, people expected to get and an ending that feels rushed, making viewers wait again, for whats suppose to be the third and final instalment in the Dune trilogy….. wait, when did it become a trilogy, thought it was going to be a two part adaptation?… Thats the movies for you.
The Ugly
The storyline is giving White Savior trope in the way Paul is portrayed as the one who can lead the Fremen to paradise or maybe their doom, yet he is ultimately a bangling outsider, trying to fit in and wouldn’t have survived as long as he did without Chani giving him some pointers along the way… Actually, Chani’s character should have been created as a more pro-active one in driving the story but instead was treated as a side romance, decentrelised from the main plot..
Dune: Part Two casts a rather harsh light on the power of belief, religion and prophecy, how they can be wielded to control people and political machinations as with the Bene Gesserit who seem bent on pulling strings into a tangled mess and how the best of intentions can lead towards unintended devastation.
Final Thoughts
Dune: Part Two is a masterful production, which does well as a continuation of Dune: Part One and again remaining mostly true to the source material… While it doesn’t feel as ambitious as its predecessor, it does make a worthy successor.
With Dune: Part Two currently the highest grossing movie of 2024, its production company Legendary Pictures has given the green light for Denis Villeneuve to create a 3rd installment Dune Messiah.
Have you watched the Dune movies or read the books?
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