Like many people, my experience with the story of Dune was extremely limited until recently. I remember seeing these massive tomes on the shelves at my local library and being intimidated by them, knowing their reputation for being difficult reads. I was also aware that there was an unpopular film made in the 1980s that tried to distill the original book into just over two hours of film, but it was never at the local rental stores where I lived, and the stills I saw of it looked weirder than anything I had ever seen. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that I finally got an opportunity to watch the film, and my reaction to it was exactly what I was expecting. I was simultaneously fascinated by the world-building and bored because the material was so dense that I couldn’t follow large swaths of it. Part of that is because David Lynch, the director, was making his film for fans of the book who didn’t need things spoon-fed to them, and part of it is simply because the novel itself is extremely dense and difficult to translate to film.
In 2021, Denis Villeneuve, a writer/director that I admired for his atmospheric takes on Blade Runner 2049 and the heady Arrival, released Dune: Part One, a film that set out to tell the story of that first novel in the only way that it could be done properly on the big screen: divided into two films. Unlike some other films that go this route, though, Dune didn’t get the luxury of filming both halves at the same time. Instead, the film was made with the mindset of waiting for box-office results before green-lighting the second half. After all, this was not a guaranteed money-maker, and Denis’ previous film, Blade Runner 2049, was not the guaranteed hit the studios had expected.
As the film was wrapping up and preparing for distribution, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and theaters shut down. By the time it did get its theatrical release, Warner Bros. had struck a deal with HBO Max to distribute their new releases simultaneously in theaters and to the streaming platform, virtually guaranteeing a weak box office performance. Naturally, Denis assumed it would underperform because of this, and the sequel would be cancelled. That didn’t happen, though. The film still made over 400 million and also performed strongly on streaming. Soon, news came out that Denis was given the go-ahead and was working on the script for Dune: Part Two.
Dune: Part Two has joined the ranks of films where a movie and its sequel both share the honor of an Academy Award for Best Picture. This was hardly a surprise. By the time those nominations were announced, most people who follow the Oscar race had it on their short list for contenders. This year’s show is still many weeks off, so the results aren’t known, but the smart money is on it not winning Best Picture. It is worthy of the win, but the odds are against it. Denis was also snubbed in the Best Director category, too, which is a good sign that it won’t triumph in the end.
Dune: Part Two picks up immediately after the events of the first half. On the planet Arrakis, Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and his Fremen troops accompany Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his pregnant Bene Gesserit mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), to Sietch Tabr, a major Fremen gathering place hidden in the caves of Arrakis. The Fremen there accept Paul, but Stilgar tells Lady Jessica that she must succeed the dying Reverend Mother by drinking the Water of Life, a drug fatal to men and the untrained women. She uses her Bene Gesserit training to survive the poison and thus inheriting the memories of all the past Reverend Mothers. Her pregnancy was unknown to the Fremen, though; otherwise, they would not have allowed her to drink of the Water of Life. It awakens the mind of her unborn daughter, Alia, allowing Jessica to communicate with the fetus.
Meanwhile, with the assistance of Paul, the Fremen have been stepping up their attacks on the spice mining facilities of House Harkonnen, slowing the mining and production of the invaluable material. The leader of the mining operation, Rabban (Dave Bautista), is rapidly being proven to be ineffectual at staving off the attacks, and head of House Harkonnen, Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgård), looks to his nephew, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), a brutal but cunning man, to take over and get things back on track. His brutal tactics prove effective, and soon production has been restored. But Paul has a new plan. He sends out a challenge to the emperor (Christopher Walken) to lure him to Arrakis, where Paul and the Fremen will wage war and capture him, seizing control of the Great Houses.
There is, of course, a lot more to this story than this simple synopsis covers, including prophecies of Paul being the Lisan al-Gaib (offworld prophet). Dune, the novel, is bursting with concepts that can be difficult to follow; one of the reasons the David Lynch film struggled to find an audience. This is a world as filled with lore as anything J. R. R. Tolkien ever came up with. There is a reason this is considered one of the greatest and challenging sci-fi franchises in all the world. What Denis Villeneuve has done is make this dense material palatable for the average viewer. It’s not dumbed down, not in the slightest, but it is presented in such a way that it can be followed without having read the book.
The first film had its share of action scenes, but it is mostly a film about setups. It is introducing us to the world so that when we get to Part Two, we are well-versed in the world and can get into the second, more action-packed, film. That means, though, that if you haven’t seen Part One, you will not so easily get into this film. There is nothing in the film here to catch you up to speed should you have skipped the first half. If you haven’t seen Part One, or haven’t seen it in a while, I would recommend tracking it down before tackling this film.
Timothée Chalamet makes for a compelling lead once again. In the first half, he was in training, trying to find his place in the universe. Here, he has found that place, complete with a complicated love interest. That woman is Chani (Zendaya), a Fremen who loves him but doesn’t believe in the prophecies or the old superstitions. She will follow him into battle but turns away in the end when he betrays her trust by seeking power and agreeing to marry the Emperor’s eldest daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), so he can inherit the throne. In the novel she became Paul’s concubine and true love, bearing his children, but this film has her run off into the desert on the back of a sand worm once Paul announces his plans to wed Irulan. We’ll have to wait for a Part Three to find out where this all goes.
Denis Villeneuve has taken advantage of filmmaking technologies that David Lynch didn’t have available to him back in 1984. This includes a large degree of CGI to bring the world of Dune to life. One of the biggest flaws of the original film is its less-than-stellar effects. Lynch was working with a decent budget for the time, but the technological limitations can be seen everywhere throughout that film, especially during the final battle with the sandworms. With modern technology, Denis is able to bring that final battle to life in a way that was not available before. We see massive sandworms plowing through the sand like some giant Graboids, devouring troops left and right while Fremen dart in and out of the sand storm to pick off Harkonnen soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. The scale of it all is truly impressive, and adding the beauty of the desert into it all makes those scenes truly breathtaking. Dune fans finally have a film series they can be proud of.
This is an epic in every sense of the word. It also has parallels with religions, including many messianic references. It takes a hard-to-read, heady sci-fi novel and turns it into a film that is just as heady but also able to be digested by the average moviegoer. Many of the concepts are foreign and can be daunting to try and keep up with but Denis has made it accessible, nevertheless. Denis has expressed an interest in making a third film, based on the novel Dune: Messiah, to round out a cinematic trilogy. After seeing this film, he deserves to get that chance. Dune: Messiah is a difficult book to adapt in its own right, but if anyone can do it well, Denis Villeneuve is can.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe, and Denis Villeneuve
Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser
Best Production Design: Patrice Vermette and Shane Vieau
Best Sound: Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, and Doug Hemphill (won)
Best Visual Effects: Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer (won)
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Release Date: March 1, 2024
Running Time: 166 minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
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