“When law and duty are one, united by religion, you never become fully conscious, fully aware of yourself. You are always a little less than an individual.”
Denis Villeneuve has established himself as one of the most consistently brilliant filmmakers working today, and has followed what many considered to be his magnum opus with another cinematic tour de force in Dune: Part Two; a hugely ambitious, contemplative sci-fi epic... which may also be the bleakest blockbuster ever made.
Part Two picks up almost immediately after the events of the previous film, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his Bene Gesserit mother, the Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), traveling through the desert with their new Fremen allies. After reaching safety upon narrowly surviving an attack from Harkonnen troops, the outsiders are viewed with suspicion, but Stilgar (Javier Bardem) becomes convinced that Paul is the fabled Fremen Mahdi (messiah) who will lead his people to freedom.
Jessica sees an opportunity to keep her son safe by convincing as many Fremen as possible that Paul is indeed the Lisan al Gaib ("The Voice from the Outer World"), but appears to be acting under the influence of her unborn child, who gains prescient abilities of her own when Jessica drinks "worm juice" and becomes the new Fremen Reverend Mother.
Paul initially rejects this prophecy, hoping instead to gain Fremen trust by training as one of their warriors and helping them overthrow the Harkonnens in battle. But as his relationship with Chani (Zendaya) deepens and his visions of a (possible) future grow more disturbing, he comes to believe that fanning the flames of religious fanaticism and proclaiming himself Mahdi may be the only path forward - even if it means giving up the love of his life.
"Muad'Dib" and his comrades prepare for war, unaware that the Bene Gesserit have been keeping an eye on and manipulating another potential Kwisatz Haderach: Baron Harkonnen's (Stellan Skarsgård) sadistic and highly-skilled nephew, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).
Part Two continues a dense, layered and complex story, and although Villeneuve once again does an admirable job of streamlining the more abstruse aspects of the saga, you'll find no hand-holding or jarring exposition dumps here. This does mean that certain aspects of Paul's arc could be a tad confusing for anyone who hasn't read the books, however.
Without going into spoilers, Frank Herbert's novel makes it clear that Paul - while also driven by a desire for vengenace - sees his decision as the lesser of two evils, which isn't really conveyed in the movie. As a result, Paul becomes an even more unsympathetic character than he might have been.
We weren't sure how far Villeneuve would take this after Part One, but he fully leans into the fact that Dune is basically a cautionary tale that subverts the classic hero's journey, as Paul essentially manipulates (perhaps unintentionally at first) his followers in order to achieve his goals.
Though we do still root for Paul to prevail over the undeniably vile Harkonnens, the real heart of the film is Chani, who sees the dangers of putting all hope in a religious leader early on ("this is how they enslave us") and does her best to prevent catastrophe. Zendaya gives the performance of her career here, and is a clear standout among a sea of impressive turns.
Chalamet is also excellent in the lead, managing to keep us on Paul's side (for the most part) with a nuanced, sometimes surprisingly frightening performance. He is matched every step of the way by a just the right side of scenery-chewing Butler, who's power-hungry Feyd is a ruthless force of nature. Unfortunately, the other new cast members don't make nearly as big an impression.
Though Florence Pugh (Irulan) and Christopher Walken's (Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV) characters are vital to the story, they don't really get very much to do, and Léa Seydoux's seductive Lady Fenring only has about three scenes before vanishing from the movie altogether. This does tend to be unavoidable with sprawling ensembles, and, thankfully, Josh Brolin (as the returning Gurney Halleck), Bardem and Fergusson are still given enough screen time to shine.
On a technical level, Dune: Part Two is faultless. Villeneuve excels at creating a near palpable atmosphere through sound and visuals, and with the help of Hans Zimmer's mind-blowingly brilliant score, delivers what might be his most jaw-dropping cinematic experience to date. "See it on the biggest screen possible" has become pull-quote bait for reviews of pretty much every major studio tent-pole, but in this case, it really does apply. If you can, do your best to see this film in IMAX - you won't regret it.
The worm-riding sequence featured heavily in the marketing is indeed an incredible set-piece, but there are others, including a brutal gladiatorial contest, and Paul and Feyd's climactic hand-to-hand knife fight.
The ending of Part 1 proved to be divisive, and we can see some taking issue with how this movie wraps-up. While we knew going in that the previous film was the first part of what was believed at the time to be a two-part story, the news that Villeneuve will return to helm an adaptation of Dune: Messiah means we leave things on another cliffhanger - although if the story was to end here, it would serve as a far more complete (if not particularly satisfying) conclusion.
Those hoping for blockbuster escapism might find themselves shook by this faithful, at times borderline depressing adaptation, but Dune Part Two is Sci-Fi spectacle at its finest and most audacious, as Villeneuve builds-upon upon and possibly surpasses (opinions will vary) his previous film with aplomb.