Movie Review: Dune: Part Two

At a time where people often debate the viability and quality of the movie theater experience, something like Dune: Part Two comes along to remind everybody of just how impressive it can be. In fact, the bigger, more action-heavy second chapter of Denis Villeneuve's epic space opera serves as one of the best advertising campaigns for the theatrical experience-especially premium formats such as IMAX and Dolby-in recent history. Seeing something like Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) learning how to ride a sandworm, Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen attacking a Harkonnen spice production plant with rockets or the stunning black-and-white photography of the Feyd-Raha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) gladiator sequence on a massive screen where the colors pop, the intricate sound design explodes from the speakers and the massive scope of the film can be completely felt is just pure magic. These are the kind of awe-inspiring moments of immersion that make people fall in love with a franchise and the medium itself and given the current state of blockbusters where huge films are regularly slapped together by a committee of suits who don't give two shits about the actual quality of the product their company is putting out into the world, seeing something with such excellent setpieces and meticulous attention to detail from a filmmaker that is firmly in control of their own project feels particularly special. 

If Dune: Part Two was something like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jurassic Park where spectacle and the sense of wonder it creates were the engine of the film, it would be a towering triumph. But alas, that's not the case. Dune: Part Two is a film about the next step Paul Atredies takes in his reluctant but unavoidable ascension to the throne that touches on a whole lot of things including colonialism, religious fanaticism and power's unmatched ability to corrupt the soul. Not unlike the journey of his film's protagonist, Villeneuve's desire to deliver sweeping sci-fi spectacle gets in the way of his good intentions to tell a character-driven story that pops off the screen with the same impact as its blockbuster action moments. 

The sheer size of Dune's universe and the violent power struggle that sits at the center of it creates this barrier between the drama and the characters that are driving it. In turn, this barrier creates a distance that is significant enough between them and the audience that every event of the film, its meaning and the emotions they intend to conjure up lack weight. It feels extremely odd for something that has such high storytelling and emotional stakes to fell so hollow on that front, but I guess the vastness of Arrakis is just too much to support both the epic science fiction action and human drama that all of these battles are in service of.

To be fair to this film, Dune is widely considered to be one of the densest novels ever written and Villeneuve's filmography outside of Arrival is full of cold, harsh affairs that don't deal with the brand of emotional devastation that's on display here. Still, Dune: Part Two collapses upon itself whenever it shifts from its big action/worldbuilding moments to the character-driven ones that are supposed to be the heart of the film and for that reason alone, I believe it marks a pretty considerable regression from its predecessor.                                                

Grade: B