DUNE: PART TWO (2024)
In my retrospective for David Lynch's Dune I noted that the whole thing is oddly truncated and lacks scale. Not in the sense that the ships and sets were never large enough, but the way that the passage of time is too short and the scope of the conspiracy is too shallow. It's something that in a few ways is rectified by a fan edit of the film known as the 'spicediver' edition that you can see quite easily. It's something I recommend because, in spite of the varying film sources, it's more rewarding than the official cut. Which brings us to the Denis Villeneuve iteration which when combined is more than five hours long. Does it have the depth, the grandeur, and the cast necessary to fill so much time?
With this in mind it's interesting to find that part two is blockbuster spectacle first, character study second. Ideas like the war against thinking computers, leading to human Mentats, along with certain aspects of the Fremen culture, are absent. So are certain supporting characters, most notably Thufir Hawat. The more nuanced internal conflicts of House Harkonnen, as well as the finer details of the Baron's master plan are still barely mentioned. Those expecting to see new takes on Alia Atreides (Anya Taylor-Joy in a brief vision) will be disappointed as the time Paul spends in exile is shorter than ever before. The results are a simplified version of events with a lot of big changes, something perhaps in line with Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.
With a considerable amount of context and in-world history left aside the film focuses on a variety of grandiose sequences of desert warfare, as well as a whole lot of religious fervour, instead. Right from the start the sparse locations are used to create striking moments of conflict between the Fremen tribes and the Harkonnen shock troopers. Moments of suspense and dread are punctuated by laser battles and pyrotechnics. Part two is immediately more eye-popping despite the same kind of orange and brown colour palette for the most part. But at the same time the mechanical and architectural designs involved are now more elaborate and strange, if never too baroque in nature.
As before, and in the 1980s, the Harkonnen home world of Geidi Prime is depicted as a bleak industrial nightmare. But this time even the wavelength of the sunlight is more sinister as schemes involving the Baron's younger nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) and Lady Fenring (Lea Seydoux) are given more focus. It's a uniquely creative touch in terms of the film as a whole, one that means that it's a let down when elements such as the folding of space or the potential visions of a path to godhood are never examined. Things are still restrained in ways that suggest it will be difficult when considering major design elements of future sequels. It needed to be weirder in several key moments.
Still, other sequences are developed in ways that show direct choices adapting the story material beyond the special effects. Characters like tribe leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and his student Chani (Zendaya) were very archetypal in the original story. Now, in another mirror of Peter Jackson's style, there are newly invented conflicts; Stilgar and his confidants are religious zealots often blinded by faith, and Chani and her friends are atheists who want to fight tyranny alone. Where other elements have been streamlined these discussions of religion as control method are brought into focus as things progress, a sign of the darker turn things will take this time around.
Which means that we're meant to accept both Chani and Paul as young romantics, which works here and there, but also as freedom fighter and future emperor respectively, which is less convincing. Their friendship in and out of skirmishes against The Beast Rabban's forces has enough charm to keep things moving. But the idea of Paul facing a manufactured destiny to get revenge, while knowing the dire longer term consequences, is often too lightweight. Chani being against the idea of a prophecy designed to control the masses is interesting in concept, but in the end it's unclear how this scepticism will pan out in a third movie. It's also unclear if either will develop enough charisma to carry things forward.
Elsewhere the current Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) are essentially wasted on scenes that are even thinner. It would have been wiser to suggest their own place in another level of conspiracy involving the spacing guild, yet another party who are absent altogether. Instead we're left to consider if Feyd-Rautha is truly a contender for the throne as he slurps and snarls his way through scenes in a voice which seems to be partly his uncle's and partly a peculiar Michael Wincott impression. If these are the best the Great Houses have to offer Muad'dib shouldn't be so worried.
At least Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) gets more to do this time around, stepping into the role of a religious leader and stoking the flames of belief for her own ends. Paul's initially humble nature eventually gives way to what needs to be done to survive (a small step compared to what his offspring will get up to) but his mother has a mind expanding experience that takes away part of her good nature. There isn't too much political manoeuvring involved but it's enough to elevate it all beyond just a CGI filled adventure story. Which it is, where necessary, without ever upsetting the balance between thematic material and immense action.
The results often look (and sound) incredible in terms of things like desert winds, bombing strikes, worm attacks, and much advertised gladiator duels. Fans of the source material will likely frown over the lack of water rings, the absence of child Alia, or the lack of Paul's own first child. Certain characters are quite different as are certain events. But looking at it more objectively it's a fantasy and science-fiction blend that goes beyond superhero one-liners most of it falls into place, despite a few stumbles. Taking Frank Herbert's world and bringing it to life with a director's personal ideas, rather than a studios, was always going to be this kind of film.
It's the kind of crowd pleasing affair that successfully, for better or worse, takes a complicated story and makes it digestible. It's the mainstream version with huge ships, weapons, and creatures, without getting bogged down with inner monologues or difficult questions that would alienate a wider audience. They might not have successfully translated all the problems of a foreign saviour arriving in a land of fanatics, but it still deals with enough of those ideas to avoid being another one dimensional Avatar. With some more tweaks and moments even the 1984 version failed to adapt it would be more impressive, but on the whole it's a visually exciting sci-fi epic with enough of the character missing from Part One.
4/5
