Dune Part Two: It's Beyond Incredible

I walked into the theater with high expectations after grazing over the initial reactions to "Dune: Part Two" from both audiences and critics. I walked out of the theater going "I may never see another movie like this ever again." Do not take what I say lightly here: "Dune: Part Two" could very well be remembered as our generation's "The Empire Strikes Back." Yes, I get it is an adaptation, but it is an absolutely incredible adaptation, and a cinematic accomplishment that will undoubtedly go down in history. It is quite possibly the most ambitious, captivating, arresting, and beautiful science fiction film I have ever watched. Ever. Now, that's not to say that this movie is perfect. It has a couple of narrative flaws that I will briefly discuss, but I don't know how to say this other than you need to watch this movie in a theater, on IMAX, if possible. To miss out on watching this on as big a screen as possible would be a huge missed opportunity. This is truly one of those "can't miss" films.

For a brief, largely spoiler-free synopsis, "Dune: Part Two" is a follow-up to the 2021 film "Dune" and adapts the second part of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel of the same name. It follows Paul Atreides as he continues his war against House Harkonnen after they massacred his family along with most of House Atreides.

Wow, where to start with this film? Almost everything about it is amazing. You know, let's start with the obvious. The visuals of this movie are absolutely stunning. This is achieved through a surprisingly minimalistic and practical approach to this department. A lot of movies today have this really bad habit of drowning you in CGI to the point where you almost feel like you are watching a video game rather than a movie. But hear me say this: I am not against CGI if it is implemented correctly, and "Dune: Part Two" is practically a masterclass on how to effectively use CGI. Everything you see in this movie looks not only like it would exist in this universe but almost like it could exist in real life at some point. Now, that may sound confusing, but follow me here. What I mean by that is that everything in this movie looks consistent. This movie isn't trying to look cool. It's trying to look authentic. And this inevitably lends believability to the film that is too often lacking in other movies. I am not one of those "we need to go back to the 80's!" guys. I am not under any illusion that the past is where all good films reside, at least any more than the present is, and this film proves my point and even throws an exclamation point in there at the end. CGI is your friend if you use it correctly and consistently, and this movie perfectly pulls this trick off in terms of its visual effects. "Dune: Part Two" puts its absolutely gigantic budget of $190 million to seamless use. Everything looks absolutely spectacular. I almost believed that sandworms and the Sardaukar and the Lisan al-Gaib could actually exist. I know it sounds a little juvenile to say that, especially as a cold, cynical, heartless, and soulless movie critic, but come on. They say seeing is believing. The sheer scale of this film was staggering, and the VFX artists in this film really made this massive, massive story come to life.

Of course, visuals are only a surface-level observation, but luckily "Dune: Part Two" is much deeper than what you can see on it's surface. It's like Paul Atreides himself says. "You dive in; you can't reach the bottom." Let's move on to the performances. If you had told me that Timothee Chalamet would play a truly intimidating warlord who could silence a theater more effectively than he did the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit, I would have laughed. Well, I'm not laughing anymore. Chalamet's performance as Paul Atreides is an absolute powerhouse. Chalamet has a commanding screen presence, and as the film progresses, we see Paul transform from an unsure-of-himself off-worlder to, well, the Lisan al-Gaib himself. If you're worried that Chalamet couldn't handle a role with this much gravitas, I hope I can dissuade you of that notion right here and right now. His performance swings from capable to commanding to ruthless to what can only be described as downright cold at times. He single-handedly turned what should have been a film about a triumphant victory into a tragedy of epic proportions. And while Chalamet's depiction of Paul is the highlight of this movie in terms of its performances, the rest of the cast is incredibly strong as well. Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, portrayed by Austin Butler, is an appropriately cold, menacing, and efficiently brutal antagonist. Baron Harkonnen is once again brought to surprisingly intimidating life by one of my favorite actors, Stellan Skarsgard. Rebecca Ferguson acts the heck out of Lady Jessica. And even if her character was largely side-lined for much of the movie, Zendaya does an excellent job playing Chani for the time she's on-screen. Oh, and Javier Bardem gave us a side of Stilgar we hadn't seen before: part-time comedian. I enjoyed every single second he was on the screen, and despite Stilgar being the comedic relief of the film, he never succumbed to campiness. And for what we saw of Gurney, Josh Brolin did a fantastic job, bringing a different side to this character than we saw in the first film. But of course, despite all these fantastic performances, the spotlight stayed on Paul, as it should. And I'm grateful it did. I cannot say enough good things about Chalamet's performance.

The narrative flow of this film also complemented the characters quite well (and the other way around). Of course, for the sake of the film, some sequences in the book were intercut and re-arranged, but I sincerely believe that Frank Herbert would have been very proud of this movie. This film took its merry time when it was establishing the culture and vibe of the Fremen at the beginning of the movie, and I really appreciated that. For as many things as the first film did well, I understand that it didn't really have time to dive into the culture of the Fremen for the sake of runtime and pacing. However, this movie needed to do that. And do that it did, and then some. The culture of this desert tribe felt so....real. It was very well-realized and detailed, and I appreciated this. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this movie hooked you with some action at the beginning and then took all the time it needed to let us know why we should care about the Fremen before throwing us headlong into the meat grinder of war. It also gave Javier Bardem the time to do what Javier Bardem does best: put on nothing short of a show. This film always seemed to have it's climax in mind, and so it never feels like it is meandering. It's always moving towards an inevitable flashpoint of a climax that I can absolutely assure you does not disappoint. And while it's moving towards that point, it takes it's time to help us understand why we should care about characters and what happens to them, but if never feels like it overstays it's welcome. Every second of runtime feels used by the filmmakers to get something done....unless it's sticking on an establishing shot for just a few seconds too long. On that tangent, if I had to levy a single complaint against the movie, it would be a segment where Paul and his Fremen friends have to go find atomic weapons. Paul shows up, and he's like "hey, we could really use some nukes!" And then, about five minutes later, they've found the nukes. You would think that the filmmakers would treat a weapon that is eventually used to spectacular, spectacular effect with a little more gravitas. Some of that time that was spent on establishing shots could have been used to draw out the atomic weapons thread. But this is really just a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of what is, to put it bluntly, a masterpiece.

"Dune: Part 2" is an absolutely incredible movie. I would put out a fair word of warning, though: don't go into it looking for an action movie. This isn't, strictly speaking, a commercial product. It's cinema. And that means that it will be slower at points. I suppose this warning goes out to those of you who may be a part of Gen Z. Hey, that's me too, so don't complain too much about me poking fun at a generation that is practically glued to their smartphones. But I can say with confidence that if you stick with it, "Dune: Part 2" may become one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" movies. I mean that with all sincerity. It's an awe-inspiring tragedy about a vengeful messiah that I will remember forever.

Dune: Part 2 - 9/10

Matthew 24:23-24