Almost two and a half years after the release of Dune: Part one, viewers received the long awaited continuation of the Dune series with Dune: Part two.
With Dune: Part one taking home 6 Oscar awards, including those in cinematography, editing, score, visual effects, production design and sound; fans were hoping that Part 2 would be even better.
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t seen Part one, I would suggest that you go watch it before you continue reading.
Part one leaves the viewers off with the main characters Paul Attreides, played by Timothée Chalamet, and his mother Lady Jessica, who is played by Rebecca Ferguson, being taken in by the Fremen.
The movie opens up with the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Irulan, played by Florence Pugh, recapping the last movie and setting up this one. She explains a theory how she thinks Paul Attreides is still alive, even though the House of Attreides was thought to be wiped out at the end of Part one.
The first half of the movie follows the Fremen, Paul, and his mother trying to destroy Harkonnen ships that are trying to collect the spices that are on Arrakis. Paul tries to fit in with Fremen and his mother becomes something called the Reverend Mother (Head of the Fremen).
Throughout all of this, Stilgar, one of the leaders of the Fremen, tries to convince everyone that Paul is the Lisan al Gaib, meaning “voice of the future” or Messiah. He believes that Paul is the person who is going to deliver from all the evil that they are facing. Paul, throughout the rest of the movie, tries to convince the rest of the Fremen that he is the Lisan al Gaib.
He hatches a plan to get to the Emperor, and challenges him to a battle to become the new Emperor to restore peace to the universe.
Every movie that is successful always has a little bit of romance in it; Dune: Part two is no different. Paul and Chani, played by Zendaya, fall in love throughout the movie, and that’s what is what keeps Paul rooted to the ground— his love for Chani.
The two hour and 46 minute run time seems like a long film, but with all the action, it felt like the movie only lasted ten minutes.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, who is best known for directing Blade Runner 2049 and Prisoners, flooded this movie with incredible cinematography that puts Part one to shame. With explosion after explosion and fight scene after fight scene, you don’t want to look away from the screen because every shot is absolutely stunning.
While it is easy to focus on the cinematography of it all, the plot itself and script is incredibly written. Based off of the 1965 book with the same name, written by Frank Herbert, it was pretty well adapted to the big screen. There were a few changes however; for example, when Paul becomes Emperor and has to marry Princess Irulan, in the book, Chani chooses to stay with Paul, but in the movie she runs away to live by herself. One can only assume that Villeneuve chose that to set up a possible third addition to the franchise. The script allows for the actors to put their own spin on their characters and take creative freedom, which gives each character more depth and realism.
Overall, Dune: Part two is an action packed movie that keeps you at the edge of your seat for the entirety of its duration. I would highly recommend you take a trip to the closest theater to give it a watch!
