Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Written by Taylor Baker
50/100
In “Dune: Part Two” the prophecy of al Gaib comes to life, Muad’Dib carves the path from boy to prophet, and Villeneuve sets up a grandiose vision that seems to be focused on the second novel, “Dune: Messiah.” Unfortunately, the film has baffling decisions in nearly every battle sequence during its runtime. With stilted fight choreography, awful CGI explosions, terrible overhead structure rendering (particularly in the final portion of the film), and inept ground-tearing visual effects during its sandworm ride sequences. It’s a wonder that the film isn’t more polished in its post-production visual effects after being delayed from November 3rd, 2023.
Villeneuve capably and reliably convinces when his images are blocked from the knee down, but when the vision expands, his choices and quite likely his budget limitations keep him from successfully delivering his vision. “Dune: Part Two” is a bit oddity, its frames are composed in a thoughtful way leading the audience through some of the broader beats of the novel, but the characters don’t linger, their moments fade quickly, and the nuances of relationships so important on the page fade and end up mostly seeming immaterial during the film. Chalamet and Zendaya can share a look that satisfies but their actual moments and the content of their speech fail to resonate. It’s like viewing an impression of a human relationship you can see it, but you can’t feel it.
Javier Bardem’s Stilgar is the most resounding success that Villeneuve makes as he builds toward “Dune: Messiah.” Stilgar, the Naib of Sietch Tabr in the film is a slight departure from the Stilgar of the books, with Villeneuve’s interpretation separating the Northern and Southern Fremen from one another by casting the Southern Fremen as fundamentalist believers in the Bene Gesserit prophecy sewn on Arrakis. Bardem’s devout interpretation of the character throughout the film is an effective choice that Villeneuve makes in his somewhat altered vision of the first Dune novel and accomplishes a significant amount of heavy lifting for a third film should there be one.
The first “Dune” film from David Lynch while flawed in many ways did have an element of humanity to it, a quirkiness, an aliveness that is absent from Villeneuve’s adaption. For all his formal competence I can’t say that I find this rendition to be any better than the 1984 adaption. Sometimes campiness can be a feature, not a bug, and the sterility of this interpretation has me longing for that seemingly more human and jovial interpretation of the text than this mathematical and distant one.
Despite the film’s various faults, Chalamet’s portrayal of Paul is effective, his performance conveys the journey from boy to Kwizatz Haderach as well as anyone could imagine. When the film centers on real locations and real structures and props Greig Fraser’s cinematography and Villeneuve’s vision come through clearly. Unfortunately, the film is heavily reliant on visual effects that often look poor at best.
“Dune: Part Two” Trailer
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