A review of the new blockbuster movie “Dune: Part Two”
We’ve had to wait two years for the second part of French-Canadian co-writer and director Denis Villeneuve’s hugely ambitious screen version of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel of 1965. I took the opportunity to rewatch the first segment a few days before I viewed the second.
As with “Part One”, I caught “Part Two” on the first weekend of its release and ensured that I savoured it in IMAX. This second segment is even longer (166 minutes) and seemed even louder (Hans Zimmer again), but there’s more action and even bits of romance and humour, so I was happy to endure the bottom-numbing experience.
The cast list is magnificent, again led by Timothée Chalamet whose profile has risen in the intervening two years. Most of the stars from the first movie are back: Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Rampling, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård. But we have even more stars in the firmament: Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux.
The problem is that many of these actors are underused in such a sprawling tale and (with the exception of Javier Bardem) they essentially have one expression which is unrelentingly stern. One longs for some variability or subtlety.
I think that I enjoyed the sequel a bit more than the original because I had a slightly better idea what was going on. But really “Part Two”, like “Part One”, is mainly about visual spectacle – at which it is stunning – rather than narrative or characterisation – at which it is rather leaden.
I mean, really, what is one to make of declarations like: “I am Paul Muad’Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis. The Hand of God be my witness, I am the Voice from the Outer World! I will lead you to PARADISE!” And, apparently, it isn’t over: Villeneuve has set us up for more.