Dune: Part Two Review – Long Live the Fighters

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is everything it needs to be. That doesn’t sound like high praise, but it’s a soaring compliment. At last, Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic escaped its “unfilmable” label to become one of blockbuster cinema’s most compelling, sweeping epics. As a longtime fan of the franchise, I can’t speak to a newcomer’s experience with the unabashedly abnormal narrative. I can, however, recommend Dune: Part Two as a jaw-dropping masterpiece beyond my wildest expectations.

If you’ve never read Dune, it can seem quite daunting. David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation famously struggled to capture the scale. Denis Villeneuve approached Dune with a new angle. Instead of altering or leaning into the weird parts like Lynch, he presented the ecological, social, and psychological elements as realistic internal moving pieces. This worked reasonably well in the first outing, but Dune: Part Two demonstrates its flawless execution.

Sublime Science Fiction Spectacle

No one knows how to make an audience feel small like Denis Villeneuve. Dune: Part Two is gargantuan. Its audio-visual qualities would make it worth the price of admission if it featured no story or characters. Every action set piece hits like a pulse-atomic. It escalates and descends from guerilla ecoterrorism against mining equipment to knife fights for the fate of the universe without ever letting off the gas pedal. It’s refreshingly grounded, haunting, and brutal for a PG-13 film. Dune: Part Two plays the fictional war for Arrakis and how Saving Private Ryan played World War II. Every conflict kept me on the edge of my seat, but the action didn’t stop with fight scenes.

The trailers emphasized Paul Atreides’ first sandworm ride as a critical character development moment and a jaw-dropping shot. It was, shockingly, underselling the effect. You will feel like an ant throughout this film. The human drama plays so differently next to global sandstorms and the impossibly massive Shai-Hulud. Dune: Part Two constantly reminds you that no matter how powerful Paul gets, he’s only using the forces beyond him. He can master the desert, bend sandworms to his will, and spark religious violence, but these natural realities will always outlive and outgrow him. The eternal push and pull beyond Paul lets you see through his blue-within-blue eyes if only to glimpse his simultaneous instrumentality and insignificance.

Everyone Steals the Show

You won’t find a bad performance in Dune: Part Two. The massive ensemble drops beloved character actors and enormous stars in impossible numbers without wasting any of them. Timothée Chalamet outdoes his already excellent performance in the first entry. He’s a powerhouse here, delivering some of the most impactful moments of this film without saying a word. Rebecca Ferguson delivers incredible drama as Jessica Atreides, even when she’s talking to herself. I can’t express the respect I feel for Austin Butler in this film. He followed up three perfectly-crafted James Dean roles with a $150 million blockbuster that cast him as an unrepentant sadistic goblin. He’s flawless in that bizarre new circumstance. We may be witnessing a severe pivot.

Dune: Part Two is an ensemble piece, but it’s also a movie about Zendaya’s Chani. Chani Sihaya Kynes is not the most critical character in the novel. Her role has been shifted dramatically here. Chani is Paul Atreides’ moral center. She’s the literal woman of his dreams, the only person whose approval the young chosen one truly craves. Chani is also the only Fremen warrior who sees the potential of Paul Muad’Dib from both perspectives. Her campaign against her people’s acceptance of Paul’s apparent godhood is gutting. Zendaya is spectacular throughout the film. It wouldn’t be all it is without her, and she deserves the positive attention she’s already getting for it.

The End of Dune

I’m not going to spoil what happens in Dune: Part Two. It’s an adaptation of a book that will turn 60 next year, so most fans have already spoiled most of it for themselves. There are some key changes, but you know the narrative beats. As someone who has read Dune, the ending of Dune: Part Two shocked me to my core. I can feel there’s an eight-hour extended edition of these two films out there, and I can’t wait to see it. Though I love the ending, I know it isn’t complete. Denis Villeneuve wants to adapt Dune: Messiah to close out his trilogy. This experience stands with its predecessor as a finished story, but it’s still visibly begging for a finale. If Messiah never gets off the ground, Dune will be weaker for it. Blockbuster cinema suffers a similar blow.

Dune: Part Two is one of the boldest, sharpest, and most intelligent blockbusters to grace the big screen. It’s Denis Villeneuve’s Star Wars in scale and quality, if not in tone. With enough open minds, this will be a defining epic of our generation. We should be reading think pieces about Villeneuve’s Dune still holding up in 2077. Do not miss this genre-defining masterpiece.