Dune is one of the most popular books in the history of sci-fi literature.  It spawned a film back in 1984 from legendary filmmaker David Lynch, that wasn’t received that well. Denis Villeneuve was a big fan of the book and so he decided to remake the film in his own vision. Dune went on to win six Academy Awards in 2021. That got Warner Brothers to greenlight the second part of this long book and give Villeneuve the chance to finish what he started two years prior.

Dune Part 2 starts off where the first film left off. Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) have fallen in with the Fremen. He has become friends with Chani (Zendeya) and the leader of their faction of the Fremen Stilgar (Javier Bardem). He has taken Chalamets character Atreides in like a son. He starts to train him in the ways of the sand people. Including learning how to ride the giant sandworms. Atreides has a secret he’s keeping from the Fremen though. One in which he’s gotten from his mother. She is what’s called Bene Gesserit. A race of witches. Paul has inherited some of her abilities and many more she didn’t have. He can see the future through vivid dreams. This will affect his decisions going forward and the longer he’s with the Fremen the more he becomes a threat to the Harkonens. The evil race who killed his father and took control of  Arrakis once again. He wants revenge for the loss of his father.

Greig Fraser won an Academy Award for his gorgeous cinematography in the first Dune film and he outdoes himself in the second installment.  He captures many scenes on the desert planet brilliantly. Many shots of various characters looking out on the vast wasteland that is this planet were breathtaking.  Other scenes of characters walking around rock surfaces or scenes in sandstorms were impeccably done. He was able to once again capture the beauty of this planet covered in sand. When the giant sandworms, known as the Shia- Hulud, pop up those scenes were some of the best in the film.

Another one of the technical achievements of this movie was the score by Hans Zimmer. There were many moments where the score was very noticeable.  It boomed when it needed to boom and was softer in other moments. This score represented the story overall though. It had many loud and powerful crescendos which played along very nicely with the fighting or more dramatic scenes. The Shai-Hulud scenes were an example of that, and towards the end of the film as well.

A key aspect of this film and the first Dune film is the cast. Denis Villeneuve was able to ensemble an all-star cast for the first Dune and he continued in this second installment.  Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem,  Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Rampling, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, and Stellan Skarsgard are all back reprising their roles from the first film but there are a few additions to the cast that make it all the more better. Florence Pugh plays Princess Irulan, Christopher Walken plays the Emperor, and Austin Butler plays Feyd Rautha. The vicious and nasty nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonen. This cast is phenomenal in the movie. They all bring their a-game. Chalamet gave one of if not the best performances of his career. Zendaya also does a great job in a more serious role. She has won some Emmy’s for Euphoria and she brings that kind of intensity to this role as well. Butler was a surprise though because he brought a different side to himself from his award-worthy performance as Elvis a couple of years ago.

A few other technical achievements in this film were the visual effects, the costumes, and the production design. All these aspects added to the overall realism of this second installment.  There were many scenes of the Harkonens preparing for and subsequently fighting battles with the Fremen that looked incredible.  The Shai-Hulud were awe-inspiring to look at in their full glory. The various costumes from the stillsuits the Fremen wore to the gowns that Princess Irulan and Lady Jessica wore were very impressive.  They rival anything used on an awards show red carpet or runway in a Paris fashion show. They looked that good. Overall this film had sets and locations that looked real. Where they felt like you could live and walk in them. That’s how realistic this movie looked to me. That is a testament to the vision of Villeneuve and Frank Herbert’s book.

Dune Part 2 brings some elements that were touched on in the first film into more clarity in the second film. The political machinations involving who Paul Atreides/Muad’Dib, which means desert mouse, is meant to be and how various ruling factions are trying to set him up for the Messiah if you will is in full force in this second film. The Bene Gerregrit Mother Gaius Helen has tried to plan and scheme to make a certain somebody esle the future leader. As the saying goes through from another famous literary work Of Mice and Men from authur John Steinbeck “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray” that’s what happens here.  Chalamet’s character takes things into his own hands. 

I’ve heard comparisons of Star Wars and he’s like the Luke Skywalker of this story but remember Herbert wrote these books long before George Lucas thought of Star Wars. Yes, there are comparisons to Star Wars but I think it’s Lucas who took a little from here or there to make Star Wars. If you want to compare them it’s fine but the best comparison is the fact that this is the second film in a planned trilogy and it reminded me quite a bit of The Empire Strikes Back. One of the greatest films ever made. One of my Top Five Favorite Films and the best sequel of all time arguably with The Godfather Pt 2 neck and neck with it. It’s a cinematic achievement on that level. I have no shame in saying that.

Dune Part 2 delivers everything I had hoped it would. It’s a cinematic experience like I haven’t had in quite a while. The cinematography by Greig Fraser is breathtaking, the score by Hans Zimmer is loud and grandiose, and the production design,  costumes, and visual effects brought me right back into this world as if I had never left. The cast were all on their a-games with Chalamet, Bardem, Zendaya, and Butler garner awards-worthy turns as their respective characters. Villeneuve was able to achieve something I had hoped he would after seeing what he did with the first half of this amazing story. He did an even better job in the second part. It’s a sci-fi masterpiece that I haven’t seen since the likes of The Empire Strikes Back.

5 stars

Dan Skip Allen