FILM OF THE WEEK DUNE: PART TWO

165 mins

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Available now on digital platforms, available from May 27 on DVD and Blu-ray. Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Florence Pugh, Lea Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling.

Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) continue to hide from Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and his murderous horde in the deserts of Arrakis.

They are sheltered by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and members of the superstitious Fremen, whose eyes glow blue from prolonged exposure to highly addictive Spice.

Stilgar fervently believes that Paul is a messiah from prophecy and Lady Jessica fans flames of religious fervour by installing herself as the Fremen’s new Reverend Mother.

Her son holds firm to a di erent course, fighting alongside lover Chani (Zendaya).

Meanwhile, scheming Reverend Mother

Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) dispatches ally Lady Margot Fenring (Lea Seydoux) to seduce the Baron’s anointed successor, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler).

Dune: Part Two is a colossal exercise in worldbuilding, which empowers female characters and expedites narrative through detours from Frank Herbert’s supposedly “unfilmable” 1965 novel.

Director Denis Villeneuve energises thunderous set pieces, including the long-awaited moment Paul surfs on the back of a hulking sandworm.

Impressive visual e ects marry seamlessly with practical film-making, elevated by noexpense-spared production design, costumes and grotesque make-up e ects to realise the bloated and shaven-headed House Harkonnen.

Oscar nominee Butler makes an immediate impact as the sociopathic heir to the Harkonnen empire and his inevitable collision with Chalamet’s rival is suitably brutal and bloody.

“I will love you as long as I breathe,” Paul repeatedly coos to Chani.

I’m not so hopelessly enamoured by Villeneuve’s sequel but I’m certainly smitten with the creativity and verve required to tame a cinematic beast of this muscular, jaw-dropping scale.