Directors considered Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel “Dune” unadaptable, but amidst Hollywood’s creative decline, Dennis Villenueve delivered a triumphant masterpiece.
Villeneuve’s 2024 “Dune: Part Two” far outperforms any recent movie of its kind for its visual quality and imaginative fervor.
The film follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) on his quest to avenge his father and his bloodline against House Harkonen and the puppeteering Emperor of the Known Universe.
Atreides must assimilate with the Fremen, natives of the planet Arrakis, and convince them he is the long awaited Lisan al-Gaib, the Voice From the Outer World. Nephew and heir to House Harkonen, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), deals with the Emperor to gain control of Spice, the valuable substance that controls intergalactic travel.
On their side are the Bene Gesserit, a race of witches who have overseen the installation of Lian al-Gaib and who doctor bloodlines to maintain power of the great houses. The vicious heir to Harkonnen stands in Paul’s path as he seeks to become Lisan al-Gaib and restore the desert of Arrakis to paradise.
The most immediate and striking quality of “Dune: Part Two” is its visual sublimity. Arrakis’s eclipses and seas of sand radiate reds and golds. In the Emperor’s secure paradise, spring greens and a budding rainbow of flowers frame every shot. And in the Harkonen arena, where the vicious Feyd-Rautha proves the worthy successor to his uncle’s throne, the screen turns a sheer black and white, inspiring a shock of blunt horror.
But color is only part of the spectacle. Villeneuve does not shy away from scale. Audiences will enter the theater to see an intergalactic adventure and they will leave having seen worlds (and worms) larger than they could have imagined. Every penny of the budget finds its way to the screen: from the sprawling desert of Arrakis to the titanic ship of the emperor, to the spice harvesters and the cathedral of the Bene Gesserit.
The plot jumps across the universe from scene to scene, and the audience finds poetry in motion on every planet.
The acting matches the visual standard. With a cast combining some of the most recognizable Hollywood names, it comes as no surprise that the performances are some of the most compelling audiences will see this year.
From scene one to the finale, Chalamet and Zendaya, who plays Chani, travel across the barren desert together, displaying harmony and synchronization. With a mighty crescendo, Chalamet plays the part of ethnic outsider to ambitious religious warrior.
Austin Butler appears as Feyd-Rautha, marking a sharp diversion from his breakout performance in “Elvis.”
Rebecca Ferguson acts as the powerful, protective, and scheming Lady Jessica, Reverend Mother of the Fremen. Javier Bardem delivers a passionate performance of religious devotion as Stilgar, and Stellan Skarsgard chills as the ominous Baron Vladimir Harknonen. Florence Pugh and Dave Bautista play to the strengths and weaknesses of their characters with limited screen time.
Hans Zimmer completes the piece with an ancient and horrific sounding score, a soundtrack no less masterful than his “Interstellar” and “The Prince of Egypt” scores. Thanks to Zimmer’s symphony from distant planets, the world of “Dune” swallows its audiences, leaving them dazzled by landscape and soundscape alike.
