‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: Villeneuve Can’t Make 2 Become 1 With His Uneventful Spice World Epic

There is something fundamentally terrifying about someone being branded as a messiah. A prophecy was written in stone long before they existed, only for their destiny to land them exactly at the right place and time, surrounded by all who wish to serve them and their mission. These figures can cast a spell over their followers not because of the words they speak, but rather by their actions, no matter how dangerous they might seem. In carrying out and completing their tasks, they strike fear into their doubters and secure the faith of those who never wavered in their trust in their long-awaited savior. This is the blueprint for Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) journey throughout director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, a film focused on presenting a messiah in the making that turns him from prophet to the most dangerous person in the galaxy, all while being a puppet on a string. It makes for a compelling narrative about religious fundamentalism while also lacking the visual imagination that made the previous installment in this franchise special.  

We find ourselves launched back into the cinematic world of Dune right where we left off, as Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), are following Stilgar (Javier Bardem), Chani (Zendaya), and several other Fremen back to Sietch Tabr, the place where they live on Arrakis in secret away from the Harkonnen. House Atreides has fallen after it was massacred by the Harkonnens and their leader, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), and now have taken back their control of the planet that was lost at the beginning of the first film. But things are escalating to another conflict as the Fremen are taking down packs of Harkonnens at an alarming rate, one that is infuriating not only the Baron but his nephew Glossu Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista), who has been made in charge of picking back up the spice production for his family and for the Empire. In one of the better action sequences of the film, we see Paul and Jessica go one-on-one with Harkonnen soldiers on the ground while Stilgar and the Fremen fight them from above, leaving Harkonnen bodies to drop to the ground like flies. Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser effectively uses the shadow from dusk to aid the scene, making for excellent dramatic tension. It is a shame from this moment, his work is rather uneven in those bigger action-dominated moments of the film, shining only when we branch off of Arrakis to new places we’ve yet seen in the franchise.

Once they are out of harm’s way and arrive at  Sietch Tabr, a divide amongst the Fremen people starts to form as to whether Paul and Lady Jessica can be trusted to live as one with them, considering they are foreign outsiders and bring unwanted danger wherever they go. In front of the Fremen council of elders, Stilgar vouches for Paul and becomes his mentor, believing he is “Muad’Dib,” a religious figure who would come back to lead the Fremen to freedom and make Arrakis bloom green as it once did long ago. For Lady Jessica, her fate is set by becoming the Fremen’s newest Reverend Mother when she is forced to drink the Water of Life, a poisonous blue liquid that no man has ever been able to survive drinking, and only Bene Gesserit Sisters have been able to consume. From this, two paths are forged, and while Paul is learning from Stilgar to become one with the Fremen, his mother now sees all (past, present, future) and, with the counsel of Paul’s unborn sister in the womb speaking to her, starts down a path to get more followers behind her son’s new identity to create a Holy War that can only be won once Paul finally believes in who he was born to be. Ferguson, who gave the stand-out performance in the first Dune, is once again best in show here as she transforms Lady Jessica from a sympathetic, protective mother to a focused, sinister, manipulative presence throughout the back half of the film. It is easily the best work of her career, and alongside strong work from Bardem, they are the forces moving Paul into the right place he needs to be to make his transition into their savior.

During his time training to become a full member of the Fremen, Paul discovers something that could bring a halt to his plans of getting revenge for his father’s death: his love for Chani. Seen mostly in visions throughout the first film, Chani, a non-believer in the Muad’Dib and the prophecy, sees something in Paul that others around her do not, that he is “sincere” and unlike most other outsiders whom she’s encountered in her lifetime. With this notion, she is drawn to him, teaching him how to properly sandwalk to remain undetected by the worms and being partnered in a raid against the Harkonnen in an impressive sequence where both have to put their full trust in one another to survive. Chalamet and Zendaya shine the brightest in this film when they are on-screen together, showcasing their excellent chemistry by creating a bond that grows into unequivocal love for one another. It’s an even story perspective that Villeneuve intentionally wanted to showcase as he has made it clear that he wanted Dune: Part Two to focus more on Chani, as she is an essential character in this story.

Unfortunately, when Paul starts seeing visions of his mother’s Holy War coming, and he takes the dark path down to the southern part of Arrakis to consume the Water of Life, making the prophecy come true, the last hour of the film sidelines Chani, leaving Zendaya very little to work with to save her character’s two-film storylines. She essentially becomes the only voice left in Arrakis who thinks that what Paul is doing is dangerous, as she is screaming into a void as their final attacks start to take fold. For being a vital character to this story and moving forward, there is no emotional throughline found in the writing and the acting, leaving any twists or final moments with Chani to fall flat. While Chani becomes an afterthought and Zendaya is wasted in the back half of the film, Chalamet is given enough room to work to deliver another layered, nuanced performance as Paul, who slowly yet effectively slips into evil Anakin Skywalker mode by the end of the film, crazed eyes and all. His anger within his performance becomes Chalamet’s ultimate weapon and his impressive level of commitment here showcases why he is not only the Fremen’s last hope but why he is very much the best young movie star we have working today.

Outside of Arrakis lie the rest of the pieces that are looking to make a play in taking down Paul and the Fremen. The Emperor (Christopher Walken) has heard of the growing disturbance that is the Muad’Dib and wants him destroyed. In giving this order, a chain of events unfolds that leads the Bene Gesserit, led by Gaius Helen Mohiam (an always excellent Charlotte Rampling), to call upon another prospect in their breeding program, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), to take his place alongside his uncle and take care of the Muad’Dib. But when Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) finds out that Paul Atreides is alive and who is responsible for the downfall of House Atreides, she knows that this miscalculation will be the end of her father’s reign over the Empire, and could very well take all of their lives. Revenge is not easily forgiven, as we see Paul and the Freman’s attacks on the Emperor are calculated and vengeful. Butler is absolute dynamite as Feyd-Rautha, the role originally played by Sting in the 1984 version. Gone is not just his hair and eyebrows for the character, but his voice is completely changed, no longer sounding like Elvis anymore. His Feyd-Rautha is unpredictable and menacing in all the right ways. Butler seemed to have the time of his life in this role, and it shows in every frame he is on the screen. Unfortunately, he is not in the film as much as you would want him to be in a nearly three-hour epic. All the new additions to the film have minimal screen time, though they all make stellar impressions with what they do. Pugh (who was underused for the second straight year in Hollywood’s biggest epic of the year) and Walken match well as a father-daughter combo, given two short scenes to display the strong, trustful relationship they’ve built to stay on top of an Empire. Even the great Léa Seydoux has a fun couple of sequences with Butler as a member of the Bene Gesserit sent out to evaluate the dangerous candidate that the religious organization has set to go face to face against Paul.

In mentioning the Bene Gesserit selection process, and the battle for Paul and Feyd-Rautha for control of Arrakis, and potentially the entire Empire, Dune: Part Two dives into the social, political commentary of Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking novel with a keen eye on pointing out who exactly is in charge of this world. For Paul, it’s his mother, for Feyd-Rautha it’s the Baron, and for both, it looks as if it’s the Reverend Mother and the rest of the Sisters. With this, every white character is in firm control of the destiny of every man, woman, and child; making for a horrific reality about how cultures have been colonized for centuries in our world. But Dune: Part Two sits firmly on the surface level of this commentary, not diving deep enough to explore a modern, richer connection for this important conversation to take place in this film about how our world destroys various groups of people and their cultures all over the world and doesn’t care about them whatsoever. It’s why underwriting Chani is a vital misstep by Villeneuve in this adaptation, with the casting being an even bigger miscalculation as well considering the voiceless are silenced within the film’s runtime, not given any perspective, dialogue to how Paul’s “heroic” actions, or the Emperors and Harkonnen’s violent responses affect them. If your film is going to step into the conversation pool about the topic of colonization and the overall effects it has on our world by showcasing what it does in this universe, you have to have more than just MENA actors in the background have a line or two and running for their lives. This was bound to be a problem for Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts when they barely addressed it in the first film. And by round two, it was too little too late and feels like it was not something he was interested in exploring.

While the cast overall delivers good to great work, they are let down by the components that made the first film special for many audience members: the technical and visual experiences. As we enter the final forty-five minutes of the film, and the battle sequences start to become more and more frequent, the more they all start to blend together. Comparisons to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy have been (fairly or unfairly) placed at the feet of this property, and given the size and scale of this second feature, it would be easy to connect this as The Two Towers of the Dune franchise. But what that film was able to do that Dune: Part Two isn’t even close to doing is give the audience a sense of wonder within these action sequences while also making them matter emotionally to the overall storyline. Jackson and his team knew how to build tension and stakes for everyone involved, making each frame matter on-screen and widening our imaginations for what a fantasy-epic blockbuster could be, i.e. the Battle of Helm’s Deep that takes over the back half of Two Towers. Villeneuve and his crew seem to be putting in the same effort Jackson did with his much-maligned Hobbit trilogy, which was the work of a team that was successful with something once and could never replicate the magic they once made. Even when we go to new worlds we haven’t seen before in this series, like the Harkonnen planet where we are introduced to Feyd-Rautha, the effort behind bringing this to life just felt bland on arrival. From Fraser’s inconsistent cinematography to Joe Walker’s uneven editing work to a headache-inducing, recycled score from Hans Zimmer to uninspired work from the VFX department, the technical craftsmanship for Dune: Part Two leaves a lot to be desired.

Dune: Part Two leaves a promising franchise with more questions than answers as to whether this is the type of blockbuster we want made going forward: rocky attention to detail with the feeling of being rushed matched with an exhausted runtime. Villeneuve, one of the industry’s top directors, seems to be at odds with himself here. While he is faithful to the original source material, he doesn’t allow himself any room to inject himself into the material. Thus, Dune: Part Two falls short of being the mega-epic he set out to tell. Maybe he should’ve taken a break in between making Part One and Part Two to make something else, or maybe he should’ve made them together back to back instead of splitting the filming of them up. It’s like he is chasing the great epic storytellers of the past and present and not forging a path for himself. Villeneuve’s latest feels stuck in quicksand, waiting for him or someone else to save it so it can reach its maximum cinematic potential before it sinks.

Grade: C+

Warner Bros will release Dune Part Two in theaters internationally on February 28 and in the U.S on March 1.