Dune: Part Two Movie Review

Dune: Part Two (2024)

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Written by: Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts (screenplay), Frank Herbert (novel)
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.

Verdict
The technical aspects of this are amazing. Every scene is a work of art. Big scenes provide an impact. Part of my indifference stems from this offering a standard chosen one tale, complicating it with various factions. It never gets away from those that are skeptics and the ones that want to believe. Paul seems to be a skeptic himself until he embraces his role and seeks power at the end. That's the most interesting aspect of the story and it's not explored at all. Everything Paul has been promising is upturned at the end with Paul's ploy to be the duke, and that's also the end of the movie. The technical aspects absolutely make this worth watching, but the story leaves me wishing for more.
It depends.

Review
A sequel and the final part to the 2021 movie Dune, I enjoyed the first movie, but it was only half the story. In that one, the emperor of the planets is afraid of House Atreides which is the impetus for the events of the movie and the reason House Atreides is sent to Arrakis to oversee spice mines. Villeneuve plans to make three Dune movies. These two movies adapt the first book with the third movie adapting Herbert's second book Dune:Messiah.

The Bene Gesserit and the Fremen of Arrakis both predict a chosen one. It's clear that's Paul Atriedes (Timothée Chalamet). The Fremen, blue eyed sand people of Arrakis, take in Paul and his mother after House Harkonnen attacks the planet and leaves them in the desert to die. That's the foundation of this movie.

Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atriedes

This movie is beautiful. It's one of those movies you could pause at any moment and have a photographic moment. That and just the scale of this world and story. It's massive and this does such a great job with that. So many scenes feel epic and big.  The movie is laudable, adapting something considered impossible. The technical aspects of this far outstrip the narrative. I wonder if I'd like this more after watching the franchise again or watching the movies successively.

We get the briefest of recaps with the emperor's daughter recounting how Harkonnen eliminated the Atriedes house with an unprovoked attack in the night. Then we see Paul in the desert with Chani (Zendaya) and other Fremen fighting mercenaries of House Harkonnen. If I hadn't looked at my review for the first movie, I wouldn't have any idea what was happening.

Paul decries he's not the one while some of the Freman proclaim he is. His denial only bolsters his believers' resolve. The Bene Gesserit, a religious and social force that seem more like magicians, planted the chosen one prophecy long ago, and are now collecting on it. I wish the movie delved into how this group is pulling the strings across the universe. There isn't a sense that this idea of the one has been around long enough to become legend. There are those that doubt Paul is the one, but they seem to exist more for plot tension than a legitimate opposition. The Bene Gesserit believe there will be a chosen one, but they believe it's impossible for a man to be the one so it can't be Paul. Then later, they find another man that could be their one. It's just too thin.

The Fremen accept Paul rather quickly. I get he's a skilled warrior, but they claim to be wary of outsiders despite giving him refuge. To prove his mettle as a Freman and to fulfill the prophecy, Paul must ride a sand worm. I really thought he had done this in the first movie, but apparently he did not. This sequence is a big moment, literally and metaphorically, underscored by the music, the cinematography, and the reaction of other characters. This would have been such a great scene to see in a theater.

Paul's nemesis in this movie is Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) of House Harkonnen. We first see him in some kind of coliseum fight where the sun is so bright the scene looks like it's in black and white. With how most of the Harkonnen have a sinister look, the grayscale of this scene is striking.

Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atriedes

This movie feels big, but it also moves too quickly. It might just be too much story for the length of the movie. We get this expansive area of space with big set pieces, battles, and stakes. We don't explore Paul's feelings of being the one other than his denials. It all seems perfunctory, but Dune predates Star Wars and it really seems like Star Wars took some inspiration, especially as we follow Paul's mother's arc in this movie. I don't like her arc as it seems staged just for a reaction. Paul has a romance with Chani, but that also feels scripted just for a reaction at the end.

Paul consumes the Water of Life which is sure to kill anyone, except he's the second person we see consume it and live in this movie. The experience provides Paul preternatural insight about the world. It's a distinct turn for him. He initially stated he wanted to fight with the Freman instead of rule them. They were wary of someone wanting to lord over them, but after his awakening Paul wants to be the Duke of Arrakis and lead the people to paradise. It's unclear if Paul sees him becoming the Duke as the only way to win against the Harkonnen or if it caused him to become power hungry. His humble demeanor has completely changed. When he was playing at being one of the common folk was that a ruse as he hoped to get power or did his ambitions change upon being awakened? At the end of the movie he seems like someone that wants to rule. It's these finer plot points I wish the movie explored. His ambition changes his relationship with Chani, and we never know his underlying motives. At face value Paul was happy to be a common Freman when he thought he wasn't chosen to wanting to rule the entire planet when he realized he was chosen. The most lenient interpretation is that his extra-sensory vision has determined that the only way to save the Freman is to be the Duke, but the movie doesn't confirm or even hint at that anywhere.