Anticipation has been sky-high for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two since the acclaimed 2021 first installment left audiences stunned by its otherworldly spectacle but hungry for the whole story. With the release of Part Two, the celebrated director delivered an emphatic cinematic triumph – a landmark work of science fiction filmmaking that takes the groundwork laid in Part One and elevates it to even more monumental grandeur and thematic ambition.
Dune: Part Two envelops viewers in an all-consuming tidal wave of sensory wonderment from the moment it begins. Villeneuve, alongside brilliant cinematographer Greig Fraser, has crafted a breathtakingly immersive visual experience that is arguably the most dazzling spectacle put to screen this year, if not this decade. The scope and scale are so colossal, so overwhelming in their intricately realized detail and awe-inspiring imagination, that it leaves you feeling indelibly transported to the harsh desert landscapes of Arrakis.
Every frame seems to contain some new astonishing sight or image seared into your retinas – the sleek brutalism of ginormous spacecraft descending over settlements; the booming, seismic rise of mountainous sandworms from the arid depths; the ornate, ritualistic costuming of the Fremen and Bene Gesserit. Jacqueline West’s costume design alone is a masterstroke of world-building, with helmets and armor exhibiting an eye-popping variety that gets the mind racing with curiosity about their cultures of origin. The fully realized, richly-textured universe feels dreamt up over generations and epochs.
Undergirding the cosmetic marvels is rock-solid craft across every technical element. The visual effects seamlessly conjure visions of staggering Deckar future scale and gritty, tangible immediacy. Hans Zimmer’s bombastic score, evolving from the first film’s iconic theatrics, utilizes pummeling percussive force and distinct cultural motifs to immerse us in this harsh interstellar landscape further and the clashing tribes vying for dominance.
And then there are the sequences of sheer cinematic spectacle – Villeneuve’s set pieces’ enormous scope and ambition are downright monumental. One sense echoes previous sci-fi/fantasy epics like The Lord of the Rings, achieved with Villeneuve’s impeccable contemporary eye and grasp of cutting-edge artistry. The staging of gargantuan infantry warfare sequences between Harkonnen forces and the Fremen jihadi warriors is staged with such titanic craftmanship and weight that the entire theater seems to shake and rumble around you. It’s no surprise that Christopher Nolan is among those comparing Dune: Part Two favorably to The Empire Strikes Back in sheer visual grandeur and execution.
Yet for all its thunderous cosmetic triumphs, Dune: Part Two ultimately lands as more than a vacuous sci-fi spectacle.
As the story lifts off from Part One’s cliffhanger ending, Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts weave intriguing thematic textures and narrative depth into the whirlwind of prophetic mysticism and intergalactic political jockeying. What could have been a linear, expected “chosen one” story arc instead constantly prods at the uneasy contradictions and nuances lurking within its dense mythology.
Is Paul Atreides (an increasingly committed Timothée Chalamet) meant to unite and liberate the Fremen people of Arrakis truly, or is his rising savior status among tribes like Stilgar’s (Javier Bardem) just another form of colonialism and exploitative othering? Even as he embraces the ancient Fremen teachings and adopts the tribal name Muad’Dib, doubt lingers about this affluent outsider’s role, with skeptics like Chani (Zendaya, excellent) voicing concerns about his messianic fervor being a stalking horse for neo-imperialism.
These complex shades emerge through the women closest to Paul. Rebecca Ferguson is magnetic and unsettling as Lady Jessica, whose methodical Bene Gesserit brainwashing of herself and the Fremen hints at a sinister will to power and puppeteering of her son’s destiny. The great Charlotte Rampling adds gravitas as the withering Reverend Mother, while newcomers like Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan and Lea Seydoux’s Lady Margot Fenring deepen our understanding of the Bene Gesserit’s ruthless machinations across cultures and planets.
Such is the rich thematic fabric that Villeneuve and company have woven – Dune: Part Two as a “white savior” tale, yes, but one that astutely inhabits the critiques of such reductive mythologizing. This introspective self-awareness stems from Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel deconstructing colonialist heroic archetypes while satirizing the erosion of cultures at the hands of religious zealotry and power-hungry hegemonies. Villeneuve’s radical creative choice is to lean into those nuances rather than flatten them into simplistic blockbuster fare.
For all its theological grandeur and cosmic immensity, Part Two remains grounded by the core emotional intimacy of Paul’s journey and relationships.
Chalamet portrays the burgeoning jihadi prophet’s growing uncertainty and self-doubt with compelling naturalism, a soulful counterpoint to the sheer scale surrounding him. His courtship with Chani provides a resonant human heartbeat, and the actor’s chemistry with Zendaya sparks in their more tender moments.
On the other hand, the film leans into some broader character shades for its most overtly villainous figures. Stellan Skarsgard goes complete unhinged campy menace as the grotesque Baron Harkonnen. At the same time, Austin Butler remakes an indelibly lurid first impression as the vicious Feyd-Rautha, gleefully indulging the role’s sadistic derangement—their operatic sneering grants levity amidst all the somberness without undercutting the genuine dramatic stakes.
For all the criticism lobbied at Part One for focusing more on table-setting than emotional payoffs,
Part Two most certainly pays off that initial investment and grounds its grand-scale ambitions with palpable pathos, adventure, and catharsis.
Villeneuve escalates the non-stop tension and high-stakes action across storylines to a fever pitch. Yet the film also luxuriates in more reflective, contemplative moments where characters contemplate their roles within a destiny spiraling out of control into uncharted territory.
Perhaps this is where the film loses a few viewers, with stretches that could feel plodding or narratively arid for those wanting pure pulpy blockbuster thrills. For all its occasional moments of humor and wonder, Dune: Part Two fully embraces a somber, portentous tone that some may find too self-serious. Those craving weirder psychedelic strangeness or cosmic headiness may be left a tad unsatisfied despite Villeneuve’s steadfast commitment to leaning into Herbert’s probing existential depths.
Any missteps are negligible in the face of what Villeneuve has accomplished with Dune: Part Two.
It not only pays off Part One’s promise while elevating the source material, but it emerges as the sort of generation-defining work of popular art that fans and casual viewers alike can equally embrace.
This is capital-E Epic moviemaking of the highest pedigree—a sumptuous confluence of imagination, skill, intelligence, and emotionally cathartic resonance.
Villeneuve has crafted something scarce here—a blockbuster juggernaut that provides a dazzling spectacle to get lost and wrapped up in, certainly, but one tempered by nuanced substance and insight beneath the avant-garde visuals. It fully immerses you in its hermetically sealed universe and arcane belief systems while leaving you with thematic and philosophical meat to chew on once the curtain falls. Part Two may not be the final word on the grandest of sagas and mythologies, but it affirms that Villeneuve and company are the keepers of that flame for now.
In both scale and artistry, Dune: Part Two transcends and breathes rarefied air as a landmark example of big-screen world-building, imaginative storytelling, and eye-popping technical achievement. It cements Villeneuve as one of our most vital cinematic visionaries while capturing a vision that is certain to leave audiences in awe and exhilaration and eager to dream the dreams its enigmatic vistas provoke. What more can you ask of a sci-fi blockbuster destined for the ages?
