When the director, the composer of the Score (Hans Zimmer) and the star have all read Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel and love it, chances are you’re in for a good picture.
Dune Part Two picks up exactly where Dune left off. It’s worth the time seeing Dune before watching Dune Part Two.
How often has it happened that a sequel is equal to or better than the original? Consider The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Godfather II (1974), Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Aliens (1986) Terminator 2 (1991), The Dark Knight (2008).
Not since Lawrence of Arabia (1962) has there been such a stellar sandbox for director and cast to play in, nor a cinematographer (Greig Fraser) who recalls how “sand gets into every single thing you own.” Travellers into the great Australian outback know this too well with the red desert bull dust.
Great care must be taken to clean lenses without missing an errant grain of sand trapped in a cloth which scratches or destroys precisely polished glass.
Filming in Spain after the Dune experience Fraser was reminded of his days in the Jordanian desert at customs and immigration. Asked to open his bag, sand poured out. “I didn’t know where it was and why it hadn’t appeared for the last two years.”
The vast desert landscapes of the planet Arrakis baked under a searing sun in daylight and immersed in darkness when the sun set. Natural light was used where possible, even for night scenes. Interiors were shot in Budapest in enormous, dimly lit rooms. Without windows, there’s no direct light. They were bunkers which led all to interesting lighting solutions. Gorgeous visuals speak to the fact Greig Fraser should be a Dune selling point.
Dune Part Two was several times delayed release, eventually postponed due to the 2023 Hollywood labour disputes. It missed recognition in the 2023 Academy Award nominations, but qualifies for 2024, if audience memory serves.
“Power over spice is power over all.” Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), whose entire world was burned to the ground in Dune, unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen seeking to avenge his father’s death at the hands of conspirators, the Emperor (short screen time Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), House Harkonen headed by obese Baron Vladimir Harkonen (Stellan Skarsgård, who spent eight hours daily in make-up and fat-suit fitting) who demotes nephew Glossu Rabban Harkonen (Dave Bautista) for spice harvesting slowness and promotes his younger, psychotic, murderous nephew na Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonen (Austin Butler, bald under layers of make-up because he needed his hair for another film) the new ruler of Arrakis.
Filled with religion, spirituality, and belief, and how these can be used to control people, the role of Stilgar and leader of the Fremen tribe (Javier Bardem) carries these themes with, not surprisingly, some delicious moments of humour. Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) is the former military leader of House Atreides and Paul’s mentor. Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is Paul’s Bene Gesserit (Reverend Mother in an exclusive sisterhood).
The Fremin language is false, all made up from remnants of Arabic and Chakobsa from the Northwest Caucasus region. Everyone in the cast was committed to learning and knowing the language. Should errors be made delivering a line, sure enough, a retake was made. Be prepared to read subtitles.
There have been previous attempts filming the Frank Herbert novel; all which have come across as silly, ridiculous, unbelievably laughable sci-fi. You come away from these earlier efforts with a groan at the inept dialogue, special effects, and tepid, sometimes over-acted creakily-cast characters.
Villeneuve’s version finally makes it clear: it’s a coming-of-age tale with characters you can believe. Chalamet is ideally cast in the lead. He becomes a man, a leader. Stellan Skarsgård is a thoroughly frightening villain. Austin Butler has a come a long way from his smouldering Elvis to show his stone-faced smoulder of uncontrolled savagery.
Dune Part Two is filled with romance and action; it is an epic, a monumental blockbuster in the science fiction genre.
Readers of Herbert’s novel have known the plot for years. Fans seeing only Villeneuve’s films may question Dune Part Two’s ending. “A script is almost finished,” Villeneuve declared and we await a greenlit Dune Messiah based on Herbert’s 1969 follow-up novel. Composer Hans Zimmer has also teased that he’s preparing a score for a third film.
