“Dune Part 2 is the The Godfather 2 of Sci-Fi films.”
– My buddy Rudy
Like many, Rudy was able to see this movie this past Sunday (I was unaware of this early showing until I had already had my tickets). As great a movie lover (and friend) that he is, Rudy does tend to over hype things a bit (I fall into this same trap, but I am gradually improving a little).As the storytelling is more gradual and less bombastic as other sci-fi films, so was my appreciation for this epic sequel.
Having never read any of the books (sorry to my friend Peter: I still have the copy of it you lent me but I was distracted as you could imagine), I can only guess how loyal the film is to the source material. It also means I may be butchering some of the lore, so I do hope hardcore fans will forgive me. As per the usual, I will avoid spoilers as best as I can.
The second film picks up almost exactly where the first Dune left off, as Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) have joined the Fremen, the native people of desert planet Arrakis, with the tribe they are currently with lead by Stilgar (Javier Bardem). After the murder of his father in the first film (played by Oscar Isaac), Paul soon sees he may be destined to be the Lisan al Gaib, a savior like figure the prophecy has said would lead the Fremen. Though not in much of the first film, we see more of the character of Chani (Zendaya), a fremen who forms a romance with Paul.
Meanwhile, some other characters from the first film are still around, mainly Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), still under orders from the Emperor to gain control of spice mining on Arrakis, as well as his nephew Glossu (Dave Bautista). Others who survived the first film are still here, such as Gurney (Josh Brolin) and Gaius Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling).
We actually do see the emperor in the film (played by screen great Christopher Walken), as well as his daughter (Florence Pugh). There are others in the film with roles that are short (by comparison) but still essential, such as Léa Seydoux’s Lady Margot and a brief, uncredited cameo by someone I won’t name (I’ll grant you the pleasure of having it surprise you as much as it did me). If anyone from this film is going to be remembered for going all out, it would have to be Austin Butler as one of the Barron’s nephews. Looking and sounding (for the most part) nothing like he did in Elvis, his character of Feyd is described as bluntly as possible in the film: psychotic.
Speaking of psychotic, the film making. Director Denis Villeneuve proves that the first film (which he was still somehow not nominated for Best Director) was not all he had to give. This is the type of film where things that don’t work entirely still are really good overall, while the things that do work entirely are on another level.
Two scenes in particular jump out to me. The first is when Paul is tasked with riding a popcorn buc…er, sand worm (I had to). The other scene is when we meet the Austin Butler character as he is battling three foes in an arena on his home world (which is devoid of color). Unlike most action scenes, it does not rely entirely on lots of editing so much as it does on the camera work and cinematography. These scenes (as well as others) are simply hypnotic.
Parents, the film is about the same content wise as the first (which was also PG-13), minus one brief scene of mild sexuality (nothing is shown).There is also the occasional swearing and, of course, violence (nothing too graphic). If your kids saw the first one, they are fine here.
Dune: Part Two was originally supposed to be released back in November, but was pushed back to this year due mainly to the strikes. Had it not been pushed back, Oscar front runner Oppenheimer would have some real competition in the technical categories at the Oscars. Easily the best thing about this film’s release date is that, after Argylle and Madame Web took a little bit of my faith out of the cinematic experience, Villeneuve has injected it back into my veins ten fold.
Final fun fact: After seeing this on IMAX (as it should be seen), I had some dry eye on the way home. It’s as if the film sucked the water out of my eyes.
Overall:
Nothing else to say 