Review: 'Dune: Part Two' delivers epic scale, visual wonders, powerhouse performances — and a tantalizing hint that there's more to come
When a cynical movie fan looks at a classic epic and says “they don’t make ‘em like that any more,” one can point to “Dune: Part Two” and say that they do — by combining stunning visuals, complex characters and a story that moves with ferocious action and carries meaningful themes, all under the sure hand of director Denis Villeneuve.
A quick refresher, if you don’t have time to see Villeneuve’s first chapter of this adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science-fiction classic: In the year 10,191, two great houses — the noble Atreides and the villainous Harkonnens — maneuver for power, in the form of the hallucinogenic spice that gives navigators the ability to fold space and make interstellar travel possible. The only source of the spice is the desert planet Arrakis.
In the first part, the Atreides family takes command of the colony on Arrakis, hoping to make an alliance with the indigenous Fremen, who have adapted to the desert and to the spice. But Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) has laid a trap to destroy the Atreides army, and to kill Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac). The duke’s mistress, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and their son, Paul (Timothée Chalamet), escape the attack and are saved by the Fremen. (Really, just go watch Part One; it’s streaming on Max.)
Part Two picks up with Jessica and young Paul quickly adapting to Fremen life — which includes listening to their tribal leader, Stilgar (Javier Bardem), tell everyone that Paul is the fulfillment of a prophecy of a messiah who will take the Fremen to paradise. Stilgar’s kinswoman, Chani (Zendaya), and many of her generation distrust the prophecy, thinking it’s a way for the great houses to continue to enslave the locals.
Chani’s not too far off. The manipulative sisters of the Bene Gesserit have been planting these prophecy stories across the galaxy — and Jessica, a member of the order, isn’t above using those stories to keep Paul and her unborn child alive. Paul is wary of such stories, because he sees himself in his nightmares, leading armies and starting a genocidal holy war.
Meanwhile, Baron Harkonnen puts his nephew, Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista), in charge of Arrakis’ spice production — and when he can’t handle the Fremen guerrilla assaults, the Baron sends in his other nephew, the psychotic Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). All of this is observed by the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and her daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), a student of the Bene Gesserit’s Reverend Mother Mohaim (Charlotte Rampling).
That’s a lot of characters to keep track of — and I haven’t even mentioned Paul’s old combat tutor, Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), and another sister, Lady Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux). But Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts delineate the characters and their relationships with economical storytelling and fluid pacing, so it’s difficult to get overwhelmed by the plot.
The look is sweeping, as the Fremen show their skill at riding the massive sandworms — oh, man, the worms — that populate Arrakis. As impressively eye-popping as the worms are, there’s also a jaw-dropping sequence on the Harkonnen’s monochromatic home world.
In the lead role, Chalamet grows into a full-fledged leading man. No longer the child of “Call Me By Your Name” or the man-child of “Wonka,” Chalamet deftly portrays Paul’s evolution from novice freedom fighter to shrewd leader, someone who understands the danger of his messianic persona but isn’t afraid to use it to achieve his ends.
So many of the supporting cast deserve special mention, from Bautista’s impotent raging to Bardem’s world-weary true believer and Butler’s dead-eyed portrayal of ravenous evil. (And if you thought Butler’s Elvis Presley impression was good in “Elvis,” his vocal imitation of Skarsgard here is better.)
But the biggest weight in “Dune: Part Two” is carried, powerfully and gracefully, by Zendaya, who must portray Paul’s love interest and embody the movie’s moral dilemma — between freedom and colonialism, between love and duty.
Zendaya is also the pivot point for the movie’s ending, which ends with the idea that the story isn’t done. There is the unmistakeable feeling that Part Two is the equivalent of “The Empire Strikes Back,” the narratively denser and emotionally darker section of the trilogy. If Villeneuve makes good on his recent talk of making a third movie (based on Herbert’s sequel, “Dune Messiah”), “Dune: Part Two” is the downpayment that tells us it’s going to be spectacular.
——
‘Dune: Part Two’
★★★★
Opens Friday, March 1, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language. Running time: 166 minutes.