‘The visions are clear now. I see possible futures, all at once…’
I was critical of Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune movie upon release, and I rewatched it in preparation for Part Two and still found it to be ponderous, po-faced and portentous. Would it kill them for somebody to crack a joke? The point being that I went into Dune: Part Two expecting more of the same. Bland characters stood around in the desert talking about trade deals (if I wanted more of that kind of thing, I would turn to The Phantom Menace). To say I was pleasantly surprised by this second entry would be an understatement…
The plot is pretty labyrinthine by this point, so I’ll keep things brief. Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) is Neo. Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) is Obi-Wan. Chani (Zendaya) is the love interest. Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) is Darth Vadar. Christopher Walken is Sauron. Austin Butler is… actually, Austin Butler is doing something pretty unusual here. There aren’t many sadistic maniacs in sci-fi movies.
So, what makes this entry so much better than its predecessor? Pretty much everything. Villeneuve has said some stupid and childish things about dialogue in his career (“Frankly, I hate dialogue. Dialogue is for theatre and television” – grow up), but he does remember to include some meaningful dialogue in this film, something that was sorely lacking in the first entry. Chalamet is much more convincing this time around, proving once and for all (to me, mainly) that he can be a leading man. Indeed, the whole cast seems to have awakened for this one, with everyone playing more interesting versions of their characters from Part One. Where the first was plodding and repetitive, Part Two boasts several exquisitely staged action set pieces – scenes that are actually memorable – and the plot, freed from the burden of exposition, moves at a much more satisfying pace here. That being said, this is a film that is also nowhere near as good as some have claimed. Science fiction is responsible for some of the most innovative and game-changing cinema ever produced with 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Alien, The Terminator and The Matrix all responsible for pushing the boundaries of what a blockbuster can be. I would say the same for the Lord of the Rings franchise and Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies (for better or worse). Dune: Part Two is often wildly entertaining and is impressive as a visual spectacle, but it’s difficult to see how it will have a lasting impact on where the genre goes from here. In many ways, it’s just another sci-fi film. A great sci-fi film but not a momentous one.
As a great lover of dialogue, I’ll probably never take to Villeneuve’s work as others have, but despite being overrated, Dune: Part Two is a vast improvement on what came before it, and that’s a start. Oh, I should also add that Hans Zimmer’s score is incredible, and we don’t get anywhere near enough Florence Pugh.
