Dune: Part Two
review by Bobby Blakey
In 1984 David Lynch brought Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel to life with Dune. The film failed to succeed at the box office, but over time has found its fans. There have been talks of a new film outside of the 2000 SyFy Channel mini-series made for years, but looked like it might never happen. That is until visionary director of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 Dennis Villeneuve stepped in and brought the first chapter to the big screen in 2021. Now the next chapter aptly titled Dune: Part Two is almost upon us.
The next chapter sees the return of old characters as well as new additions including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem with Villeneuve back at the helm.
Dune: Part Two follows explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
I have never been able to connect with anything related to Dune despite having the urge to. Maybe it’s my love of sci-fi that I have always wanted to love it, but just hasn’t happened. The first film was visually stunning, but I was bored throughout, and I thought it squashed my dreams of ever being a fan until I saw this second entry into the story. I am fully aware that the first film is all set up, character and world building, but I was just so bored watching it. Upon viewing it once again leading into this next chapter I did
appreciate it more albeit still massively slow.
This new outing is way more action heavy without losing any of the character depth and world evolution. It is the perfect continuation of everything built in the first film and does a great job pushing the narrative forward in a way that helps to elevate everything about the first film to perfection. I loved this second chapter and was fully engaged in this world in the way I hoped to be with the first film. The fact that there is so much more happening at a faster pace helped for me, but I think it is still capturing the essence of what the first film was building that I just couldn’t connect with initially. After seeing this chapter, I appreciate the first film even more now and think it works better as one lone film as with the book than it did separately.
I know that seems silly, but here we are. This chapter is once again insanely beautiful to look at with a variety of color palates that fuel the story and characters that inhabit them. The cast are excellent with Chalamet and Zendaya leading the charge, but it’s Austin Butler that stole the show for me. Despite less screen time he brings a simple menace and pure evil to the role that oozes off screen. The visuals and landscapes are characters all their own elevating the beauty and horrors of this world. The deserts are brought to life by the cultures of the Fremen and the always awesome sandworms that make plenty of appearances this time around.
The visual effects are insanely well fully immersing you into this world and creating something familiar but all around unique and original. For those not in the know of the source material like myself, this one once again ends on a cliffhanger, but in a way that feels more complete than the previous yet still makes you eager for more. When the final frame hit, for the first time I was instantly eager for more and hope the next chapter keeps this momentum alive.
If you are hardcore fan and loved the original, you will no doubt love this one even more. If you were like me and someone not all that convinced this could be the one that changes your mind like it did for me. This cements director Dennis Villeneuve as one of the best to do it and I cannot wait for not only this next entry, but whatever he does throughout his career.
In addition to the film this release offers up a ton of featurettes that take you behind bringing the next chapter of this epic sci-fi series to life. Return to Arrakis and grab your copy of Dune Part Two available now on digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD from Legendary and Warner Bros Home Entertainment.