4.5/5
Dune: Part 2 is a gargantuan movie, crashing louder than a sand-worm and flashing brighter than a lasgun. Its domination of the box office and our conversations is all the more impressive when one considers that it’s based on a dense novel drawing on ecological theory and early Islamic history. It is, in a word, spectacular. The 2 hour 40 minute runtime zips by, so densely packed are the thrilling action sequences. Some elements, like the romance between Paul Atriedes and Chani, leave something to be desired, but these are quibbles with what is an astonishing feat of filmmaking.
The story picks off just days, or possibly hours, from where Part 1 left off, with Paul and his mother Jessica hiding out in the desert with the Fremen, the murderous Harkonnens on their tail. The Fremen might prove to be more than a route to safety: some of their members believe Paul to be the Lisan al Gaib, the prophesied messiah who will lead them to victory over their oppressors and bring water back to their planet, Arrakis. If you think that sounds convenient, you’d be right, because this prophecy was cultivated by the Benne Gesserit order to which Jessica belongs. Should Paul, an outsider, assume this mantle? Questions abound about the role of outsiders in resistance forces, and the strength and perils of religious fanaticism.
Meanwhile, in the heart of the galactic Imperium, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) learns from her father, the Emperor (Christopher Walken), that it was he who gave the order to whack the Atriedes. This sets Paul on a collision course with the Emperor, and besides this the Harkonnens have schemes of their own. Despite all these threads to follow, the story weaves them together carefully in a way that doesn’t rely too heavily on exposition, apart from a few scene-setting diary entries from Princess Irulan.
Visually, Dune 2 is incredible, and Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser manage to match or even exceed their achievements from Part 1, with epic desert vistas broken up by crunching action scenes. The fight choreography is brilliant — at many points my heart was in my mouth, Paul’s plot-armour completely forgotten as knives slash and artillery booms. The scene on the Harkonnen home-world of Geidi Prime is a highlight — a monochrome dystopia that feels like Gladiator if it was directed by Jonathan Glazer. These epic set pieces are made possible by brilliant production design, from the architecture of the subterranean Fremen cities to Irulan’s increasingly ornate headgear. All of this combines to make a world that is completely believable, despite its beguiling strangeness. Throw in excellent sound design and an epic score, and you have a film which demands to be seen on the biggest and loudest screen possible.
The cast is even more stellar than last time, and for the most part their performances live up to their billing — with the exception of Christopher Walken, who may as well be the Space Dad from MegaMind. Timothée Chalamet manages to convey Paul’s inner conflict over whether to follow his destiny, but he really comes into his own in the final third of the film, when he unhinges at just the right level (with undeniable shades of Peter O’Toole).
In a departure from the novel, Chani (Zendaya) is sceptical about the prophecy of the Lisan al Gaib, believing that the Fremen shouldn’t rely on an outsider for salvation. Although this is a clever way of externalising Paul’s turmoil, for the most part Zendaya relies on a Disney kid style pout to show her disdain, scowling as other Fremen fawn over Paul. But by the end of the film she comes into her own, showing a potent mixture of fear and devotion. Austin Butler deserves a shout-out for a deliciously scenery-chewing turn as the psychotic villain Feyd Rautha, with a performance as fun as it is disturbing.
There are moments that appear rushed, with Paul’s drinking of the sacred ‘water of life’ lacking the drama it has in the novel, and feels more like trying the local spirit on your gap year than fulfilling a sacred prophecy. Some fans of the book have complained about what Villeneuve and co-writer John Spaihts left out, with Thufir Hawat and the CHOAM Company forgotten about. But the story doesn’t suffer for it, and as with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, decisions to slim down the mass of plot avoid the film becoming a bloated mess, and allow the audience to become more deeply immersed in the world.
More controversial is Villeneuve’s flattening of the Islamic overtones of Herbert’s work, such as the erasure of Arabic influences in the Fremen language of Chakobsa (named after a real life language of the Caucasus). Although the film portrays the Arabic nature of Fremen culture, it still feels like a dilution of the source material. Herbert’s use of Islamic culture and history makes his work standout amongst the sci-fi canon, and gives the work a powerful anti-colonial element. The film simplifies this, the Arabic characteristics of the Fremen and the wider universe replaced with a stereotypical noble savage vs. colonial oppressor dynamic. That being said, seeing a skinny white boy call for jihad might not be entirely appropriate in today’s climate.
Villeneuve has nevertheless perfectly captured the surreal atmosphere and epic scale of Herbert’s novel, and in creating a unique and fully-realised world his Dune films are on a par with Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. And like Jackson’s Middle Earth, this world is populated by colourful characters who sometimes manage to crack a joke amidst the peril they find themselves in, lest we get carried away with seriousness. This ambitious and intelligent film is a staggering achievement, and news that Dune: Messiah has been greenlit is music to my ears.
Looking for more like this? Check out: Laurence of Arabia, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Dances With Wolves, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
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