‘Dune: Part Two’ review: A sci-fi triumph that’s better than the first
Our blockbuster drought is over, thanks to a brilliant sequel set on a sweltering desert planet.
DUNE: PART TWO
Running time: 166 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language). In theaters March 1.
That’s “Dune: Part Two,” the captivating and complex follow-up to director Denis Villeneuve’s grand 2021 film about a young duke who may or may not be an embattled world’s long-awaited messiah.
Paul Atreides’ true role for the people of Arrakis — a k a Dune — becomes clearer in this more propulsive second chapter. But, when the end credits roll, there is no question that “Dune” is the savior Hollywood needs.
Villeneuve’s even better movie starts with a seamless transition from the last one. Paul (Timothée Chalamet), whose father was murdered, joins up with the Fremen, Arrakis natives who have been ruthlessly culled by House Harkonnen.
Their home is enormously valuable because it’s the only place in the universe to hold spice, a substance that powers spaceships, gives users unnaturally long life and — uh-oh — is terribly addictive.
Some of the Fremen, like the funny Stilgar (Javier Bardem), believe that Paul is the prophesied hero who will lead them to victory against their tormentors. Others, ehhhh, are not so sure. It’s that tricky debate, both between the characters and in our own mind, that grippingly drives “Part Two.”
Another balancing addition is a touch of romance, in the form of Zendaya’s Chani, a skilled Fremen fighter who falls for Paul. Reservedly, I should add. Heart-tugging orchestral music doesn’t swell as they make out and viewers don’t reach for the tissues here.
Speaking of happy tears, Villeneuve is careful — actually, much more careful than the last director to take on this story, David Lynch — to avoid “Dune” becoming a “Star Wars” or an “Avatar.” Although those differently excellent movies would surely not exist without Frank Herbert’s seminal novel “Dune,” this is a far more complicated tale of geopolitics and religion. Good and evil are not so clear-cut.
It’s also a hell of a lot weirder.
For instance, Paul’s terrifying mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who’s part of an all-powerful group with supernatural abilities called the Bene Gesserit, becomes the Fremen’s spiritual leader after drinking a blue poisonous liquid extracted from a dead baby sandworm. Adding to the madness, her unborn daughter, Alia, speaks to her in utero.
Why not?
Those strange quirks, all stunningly visualized, make Arrakis into a totally believable place that is all the more worth saving.
There are delectably odd details in all the characters.
That freaky floating fatso Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) is back, and is now joined by the even creepier Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). Feyd’s a violent Darth Maul type, who looks like a hairless gerbil who got an Equinox membership. Butler surrenders Elvis’ charms to unquenchable bloodlust.
Christopher Walken also shows up intermittently as the Emperor. As famously distinctive an actor as he is (a Super Bowl commercial just mocked that fact), Walken is a natural, regal addition to “Dune.”
But the series’ grounding force continues to be Chalamet. After singing and wisecracking as Willy Wonka, he’s back to his bread and butter: brooding and stoic contemplation.
It’s in this second chapter, however, that we realize how perfect the actor is for Paul. The European looks and indie angst that brought him instant fame in “Lady Bird” and “Call Me by Your Name” are key to bringing this uniquely troubled central figure to life.
Paul Atreides is not — and should not be — a puppy dog Luke Skywalker.
And if Villeneuve follows through on making “Dune: Part Three,” as he’s said he hopes to, audiences will soon learn the perils of risking your life and planet on a new hope.
