Dune: Part Two (2024) – 8.5/10 – Subtle, Effective, Breathtaking Experience
Dune Part Two finishes the journey of hero (if you can consider him a hero) Paul Atreides on planet Arrakis, but the epic is not over. It’s quite an experience, even though I didn’t watch it on the big screen as it’s meant to be. Atreides possesses the ability of precognition to see the future (and past) as he pursues his revenge against rival House Harkonnen and the Emperor, who caused the destruction of Atreides’ house. In the process, he becomes one of the local Fremen and a messiah figure. I won’t go into more detail even though similar stories have been told and re-told across every religion and many media over the decades (most popularly, Star Wars and Lawrence of Arabia). There were quite a few changes from the book, but it stayed true to it. Personally, I prefer the films over the books. I didn’t appreciate Frank Herbert’s dry writing style.
Denis Villeneuve’s directing style is subtle but effective. You can experience that style across all his films, regardless of what genre he directs. He doesn’t use a lot of dialogue beyond what is necessary. I enjoy that subtlety because I think it speaks to high-intelligence directing. I believe the pacing could have been quicker here, especially in the first 45 minutes where very little happened, but that would go against Villeneuve’s style. The acting was good, but nothing mind-blowing. Character development was missing, and limited dialogue made it difficult to communicate much information. The problem with directing an epic between two films is that you only get maybe 6 hours max. There is not enough time to depict every character and every nuance. The beautiful visuals, special effects, editing, sound, and majestic cinematography are breathtaking. I can’t say enough about the legendary Hans Zimmer with yet another brilliant score. It was haunting, with a dark undertone foreshadowing what was to come. You might as well line up the awards it’s going to receive in 2025. There will be (almost) a sweep, but there’s a long time to go for other films to challenge this.
Would I recommend this? Yes. It’s very well done. I felt more satisfaction from the first film because there was less content to cover. The plot gets complex in part two, which covers a much larger portion of Herbert’s Dune than part One. I think this should have been a multi-season TV series like Game of Thrones, but that would mean a much lower budget.
