Dune Part II was incredible. The cinematography traveled audience members into the climatic planet of Arrakis, and the writing captured the essence of Frank Herbert’s future masterpiece.
Following up on his 2021 adaptation, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has gone even farther in this sequel. Set in the aftermath of the first film, the plot resumes and offers both familiar and phantasmagoric visions. Villeneuve puts on a fantastic display, much like Timothée Chalamet’s gorgeously coiffed hero who guides giant sandworms over the desert like a charioteer. “Dune: Part Two” is a wonderful film that showcases the art of cinematic marvel in all its glory.
The first installment follows a young aristocrat, Paul Atreides (Chalamet), the son of esteemed duke, Leto (Oscar Isaac) and his wife, Lady Jessica (Rebecca’s Ferguson) as they prepare to vacate their home planet, Caladan, to the parched planet of Arrakis, a.k.a. Dune. The universe’s emperor deemed House of Atreides fit for overseeing the harvesting of Spice, a valuable sand of sorts that can only be farmed on Arrakis. While Herbert has never confirmed the suspicion, Dune is meant to be a metaphor for the Middle East, Spice representing oil. The relocation to Arrakis is disastrous; Paul’s father passes away and other members of House Atreides are killed by the evil House Harkonnen. Paul and Lady Jessica, the survivors of their lineage, turn to the desert, where they find uncomfortable allies in a group of Fremen, the planet’s Indigenous people.
Dune II expands this narrative, and opens with Paul and his mother seeking asylum among the Freemon. Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Javier Bardem), have different views regarding liberation of the Freemon, and different perspectives on Paul’s destiny. Stilgar, a religious fanatic from the South believes Paul is the one true Lisan Al Gaib; the savior who is prophesied to facilitate prosperity to the Freemon people. Chani, like many other northerners, maintains the journey to liberation must come from the people themselves and cannot be contingent on the arrival of this destined messiah.
As aforementioned, the true mastery of Dune is the visuals. I’ve now been able to see it twice, and every scene is simply beautiful. This, however, I expected to be the case. What I was pleasantly surprised by is the scoring, which in my opinion, rivals Star Wars in regards to best science fiction soundtracks. Obviously Star Wars is far more iconic, but the Dune production team captured the landscape and storyline through music. The writing is also very well done, but minimalistic, which mimics the novel’s interpretation.
My only criticism is that the movie was very long, and while I appreciated the landscape shots, some felt unnecessary.
