Stunning mix of ambition, intelligence and artistry
Dune: Part Two
(M, 166 mins) Directed by Denis Villeneuve Reviewed by Graeme Tuckett **** ½
The last time we saw the desert planetofArrakis,attheend of Dune: Part One, in 2021, the allegedly wholesome and honourable Atreides whānau had been mostly wiped out in a surprise attack by the fascistic, slap-headed Harkonnens.
The two dynasties have been enemies for centuries, but an unexpected offer from the – unseen – emperor – to take over governance of the planet has turned out to be a trap. And now the Atreides are being bulldozed into piles and torched, while the Harkonnens look on and celebrate that Arrakis is back in their chubby little hands.
Although it doesn’t get mentioned much in Part Two – the first instalment did more than its share of the heavy lifting of the exposition, so it might be worth a quick rewatch before you head out to see Part Two – Arrakis is the only known source of melange – “spice”, which is by far the most valuable substance in existence and without which interstellar travel and extended life are impossible.
The third wheel in this epic of warring families are the Fremen, the indigenous people of Arrakis, who have been fighting a guerrilla war against whichever colonising empire happens to be exploiting their planet at the moment.
We learn early on that Arrakis has been a battleground for generations and that the Fremen are determined to outlast the whole bloody lot of them and then live to see a time when a prophecy will come true and a leader will emerge to take them all towards some misty notion of “freedom’’.
Look, I’ve been wearing long trousers and riding my bicycle without training wheels for a while now, so I’m generally pretty sceptical of any story that has to fall back on a hoary old load of rubbish like “there is a prophecy’’ and “it is written’’ to explain its motivations.
But for Dune we can make an exception. Frank Herbert’s masterpiece has been challenging film-makers ever since it rolled off the printing presses in serial form between 1963 and 1965. But it was clear in 2021 that Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario) had found exactly the blend of art and technology to pull it off. His Dune was a big-screen epic, full of visuals that raised the bar on what we would believe was possible to convincingly portray, but also a deftness and insight in the writing that kept the human relationships credible and – at times – appropriately moving.
Dune, in its best moments, is a Shakespearean space-opera and Villeneuve understands very well that unless the stakes are established at a personal and intimate level then all the battles and explosions count for bugger all. In 2021, Dune was the best sci-fi and – very nearly – one of the best war-movies, I had ever seen.
So, Part Two arrives with some boots to fill. And to be fair, it pretty much succeeds. It’s not a spoiler to tell you that Part Two is not the end of the saga. I know the third instalment hasn’t been announced, or even confirmed yet, but if we are all still around in the later years of this decade, then it’s a safe bet it will appear. The last moments of Part Two guarantee it.
The road to those moments feels very much like more of the same from Villeneuve – and that’s a good thing. The world-building is as detailed and grandiose as ever, with glimpses of corners and nooks of Arrakis – mainly those inhabited by the Fremen – that we have not seen before.
But a lengthy second-act detour to the home-world of the Harkonnen is this Dune’s most jaw-dropping set-piece. We are there to get better acquainted with a new villain, another psychotic nephew of the Baron. This is the same character played by pop-star Sting in a pair of winged battlepanties in David Lynch’s 1984 imagining of the book. (And if nothing in the last sentence makes sense to you, please Google it. But it’s not a sight you’ll ever be able to un-see.) Elvis’ Austin Butler takes the role here. He is joined by Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux and Christopher Walken as new players in this instalment.
Villeneuve and DOP Greig Fraser shoot these scenes like Leni Riefenstahl let loose on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Part Two of Dune is in every way the equal of Part One, but in this sequence, the cinematography, soundtrack, set and costume design, choreography and the absolute perfection of the casting come together for a few minutes to show us something new and wholly nightmarish.
Some films need to be seen on a screen the size of a sportsfield with speakers cranked up to 11. Dune: Part Two is one of those. Whether you’re interested in a sci-fi or not, it is a powerful and quite beautiful reminder of what a stunning medium cinema can still be, when enough ambition, intelligence, artistry – and money – all come together in the same place. Bravo.
Dune: Part Two is in cinemas nationwide.