Spectacular sequel second to none
Director Denis Villeneuve’s first installment in the “Dune” saga upended all expectations.
He took Frank Herbert’s sprawling science-fiction novel — which many said couldn’t be translated to film (especially after David Lynch’s widely maligned 1984 effort) — and turned it into an engrossing drama of families and cultures clashing against the backdrop of some truly eye-popping special effects.
Now, he has done it again with the sequel, “Dune: Part Two.” No doubt, fans will argue until the sandworms come home about whether this follow-up deserves to be elevated to the same level as “The Empire Strikes Back” in comparison to “Star Wars,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” in comparison to “The Fellowship of the Ring” or “The Road Warrior” in comparison to “Mad Max.”
But there’s no denying that, like those films, this is impressive science-fiction/fantasy world-building on an epic level, even if, at 166 minutes (nine minutes longer than “Dune”), it feels a bit too long.
But first things first. Those who haven’t read the book in the last, say, couple of decades or seen the first film need to do a bit of homework before diving into “Dune: Part Two.” Villeneuve, who wrote the script with Jon Spaihts, throws viewers into the deep end of the “Dune” pool right from the top and expects them to be able to swim amid all the seemingly byzantine plot points.
“Part Two” pretty much picks up where “Part One” left off. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the aristocratic son of House Atreides (a family line in shambles with the death of his father in the first film), and his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), have gone off with Chani (Zendaya) and her tribe of Fremen, a desert people who live on the inhospitable, sunbaked planet of Arrakis. They are at war with the brutal, bone-crushing Harkonnens, a group allied with the emperor (Christopher Walken) to take over the planet and its deposits
of spice, a combination of natural resources and narcotics that fuels this harsh future world.
In the first film, the evil that is the Harkonnens was channeled through the bulbous Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and the barbaric Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista). This time, Baron’s nephew joins them, the more wily but still bloodthirsty (and ripped) Feydrautha (a surprisingly fearsome Austin Butler), who is determined to bring the Fremen and Paul to heel.
Meanwhile, Paul’s presence has caused a stir among the Fremen. Some see him as the fulfillment of a prophecy for a messiah, while others don’t
trust him because he’s an outsider. However, one of the Fremen’s leader, Stilgar (Javier Bardem), is on Paul’s side and tries to convince his fellow Fremen that Paul is on their side.
But one doesn’t need to appreciate all of the familial intrigue, politics, religious symbolism or allusions to contemporary politics to appreciate the visual splendor that Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) have concocted. For example, the gladiator-style battle with Feyd-rautha at its center on the Harkonnen home world — a grim, gray rock where all color has been leached out of its environment and its people — is enthralling. And it offers one possible reason why the Harkonnens are so angry all the time. They need less spice and more accent colors in their lives.
Then, of course, there are the sandworms, those giant, ravenous creatures living underneath the ground of Arrakis who have no dog in this fight beyond their survival. They are always there, lurking and slithering to the surface in spectacular fashion to feed on the unlucky and unwary.
“Dune: Part Two” isn’t as taut as its predecessor, as there are moments in the middle that drag. Still, it’s an impressive achievement that, like “Oppenheimer” last year, deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible. And, yes, of course, the door is left wide open for “Dune: Part Three,” which is already in the works.
What? You thought you were going to get away with having to only spend five hours in the “Dune” universe?