DUNE: PART TWO
(directed by Denis Villeneuve, 2024)
**** (out of 5)
.
> Denis Villeneuve’s long anticipated sequel to his 2022 hit is Big! Loud! Action-packed! And yet, somehow, kinda cursory.
. Yeah, it was great. Bursting with energy and vision. Epic sci-fi! So why did it leave me somewhat cold? Perhaps I am too familiar with the material. I read Frank Herbert’s original book these two films were based on, I saw the campy David Lynch film more than once, and now I am giving my attention to this version. Villeneuve’s conception certainly does the book more justice than the Lynch approach (though I quite loved the earlier incarnation’s gothic art direction). The massive sandworms in PART TWO beat the hell out of the Lynch’s renderings. Let’s face it, FX have come a long way since 1984! This reimagining works better in almost every respect. (Though I really missed seeing what Villeneuve would do the Spice Guild navigator- an otherworldly character in Lynch’s film that equals Jabba the Hutt as a cinematic icon. Villeneuve didn’t include the character at all.)
. PART TWO is more of an action film than its predecessor. There is, thankfully, a lot less need for exposition, though there are still many storyline threads to follow. The vision here is so breathtaking in scope and detail, it is like a rich feast for the eyeballs. The settings and costuming are certainly awesome, as is Hans Zimmer’s typically inventive score. Expect many Oscar nominations, again, mostly in the technical categories.
. The scenes under the black sun of the Harkonnen home-world are stunning, though the final confrontation between Paul and the gleefully vicious Feyd-Rautha in a colosseum packed with hostile spectators lacked the impact of the book, for the simple reason that in the book the reader really didn’t know if Paul would be victorious over his supremely nasty adversary, or die in the effort. The outcome never seems in doubt here. Several baddies feel like they are dispatched too summarily.
. Young budding star Timothée Chalamet rises to the challenge of bringing maturity and potency to his Paul Atreides, who was a bit of a petulant teenager in PART ONE. Thankfully, the radiant Zendaya gets a lot more screen time here, as their relationship is cemented, and then severely tested. The rest of the cast, including Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Charlotte Rampling, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem and Austin Butler- all give solid performances, although none of them has enough screen time to really develop their story arch, which makes their outcomes a bit less than satisfying. In the end, Paul’s triumph feels a little too easy, and the romance turns sour. It is probably not the ending most filmgoers would prefer.
. The great French-Canadian imaginer has teased a third and final installment, based on “Dune Messiah”, the second book in Herbert’s series. Certainly, the ending of this sequel feels like an unfinished story. And this massively expensive film made more money than PART ONE’s entire haul is its first few weeks. There is certainly a financial incentive for a PART THREE. Villeneuve has also said he will only make it if it can be even better than PART TWO. Technically, that would be an all but impossible bar to clear. But a more satisfying ending would be welcome indeed. In these first two chapters, seeking revenge against the forces that crushed his noble house, Paul cements his sway over the desert Fremen people and marshals their manpower. With his mystic foresight, Paul foresees myriad future pathways resulting from his actions that all end in the deaths of billions of people- and one very narrow path to avoid it. But in the end, we don’t really know if he has avoided this tragedy or enabled it. In a sense, the central question is not resolved.
– Yes Denis, we need a PART THREE. And since I never read that second book, I might enjoy the ride all the more.
*
© Kevin Paul Keelan and lastcre8iveiconoclast, 2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Paul Keelan and lastcre8iveiconoclast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
KPKworld 