Dune: Part Two
Picking up right where Part One left off, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are hidden in the desert with the native Fremen after the destruction of House Atreides. Still largely mistrusted, Paul and his mother continue to indoctrinate themselves into the mysterious desert tribe, working away at the minds of those that believe a prophecy that a mother and son from the "Outer World" will bring prosperity to Arrakis. This belief, planted hundreds of years ago by an ancient order called the Bene Gesserit (to which Lady Jessica belongs), is particularly strong with Stilgar (Javier Bardem), the leader of the Fremen sect that happened upon Paul and Jessica in the desert.
If the table setting of this vast and complex world seemed laborious in Part One, it pays off in spades in Part Two. The first hour is happy to hang out amongst the Fremen, getting the viewer better acclimated with clan politics and rituals, and showing the uphill climb Paul faces in winning over a largely skeptical people that has good reason to fear any outsiders. He has found an ally in Chani (Zendaya), a young warrior that doesn't believe (or care to believe) in any kind of prophecy, simply loving Paul for who he is as a person. Chalamet and Zendaya are two of the biggest young movie stars in the world at present, and it's impossible to take your eyes off of them due to their effortless radiation of likability and romantic chemistry. When they share a quiet moment together atop a scenic dune vista, the camera comes in close as the couple kisses while music swirls, and you can't help but want them to be happy together.
Paul passes test after test, including a staggeringly thrilling ride on one of the desert's massive sand-worms, and takes on the tribal name of Muad’Dib. At this point, anything and everything Paul does is seen as a sign of destiny by Stilgar, providing a much-needed injection of humor that was largely absent in Part One. Bardem makes the most of every second of screen time as the battle-hardened but playful clan leader, desperate to sell Paul as the Fremen's savior, never wavering in his belief for even a moment. Ferguson also shines in her shifting role as the Fremen's new Reverend Mother, becoming more cold and calculating as she guides her son's ascendance behind the scenes. Her gaze becomes disturbingly hollow in direct proportion to the amount of mystical signs painted on her face, becoming something like a supernatural force of history that threatens to completely take over the Fremen's culture instead of becoming one with it.
Elsewhere, Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken, who got giggles in my theater with every line of classic Walken inflection) is dispirited after promoting the fall of House Atreides, even as his daughter, Princess Irulan Corrino (Florence Pugh), starts to hear rumors about the Muad’Dib that is increasingly sabotaging the collection of the precious and immensely valuable spice on Arrakis. The violent Harkonnens that overthrew the Atreides to re-claim Arrakis in Part One are under pressure to stop Muad'Dib and his gang, with the globular baron (Stellan Skarsgård) losing his trust in the ability of his nephew Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista). We take a sojourn to the Harkonnen home planet to meet the heir Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), an over-the-top, sadistic wacko with unmatched fighting skills. Since the Harkonnen planet is under a black sun, Villenueve shoots these sequences in a washed out black and white, a strikingly effective choice that really differentiates the Harkonnen culture from what we've seen so far. Butler (doing an impeccable imitation of Skarsgård) is appropriately frightening as a creature who is basically a creature with a one-track mind of chaos and destruction; even with a bald cap and no eyebrows, he still retains a certain level of charm, which, when combined with a cocky swagger, makes him a believable ruler-type figure.
It feels strange to say about someone who has had numerous high-profile leading roles over the last ten years, but this is a real breakout moment for Timothée Chalamet. Many were uncertain about his casting for this role, and he maintained a quiet, boyish smile throughout most of Part One that didn't seem to quite fit with his surroundings. It now seems like this boyishness was an intentional choice to punctuate his transformation into a commanding leader in Part Two. Once Paul fully becomes the messianic Lisan al Gaib, Chalamet's voice becomes deeper, his every movement brimming with confidence, his every action as loud as a thunderclap. When he stalks into a room full of the highest members of Empire and Harkonnen royalty, everyone can only watch in stunned silence as Paul takes the reins of the entire Empire. Chalamet completely sells these moments in a manner that seems unexpected, considering the kinds of roles he usually takes, erasing any doubts that he was the right choice for the part.
If anything, they could've gone deeper into Paul's character; his interiority has remained a little tough to grasp. Paul openly says he doesn't believe in the prophecies either, but are we really to believe that? He sees what his mother and Stilgar are doing to get people to believe in Muad’Dib as a savior, but he doesn't do anything to discourage them, even when he knows Chani (who he swears he loves) is against the idea. Is he just going along for the ride, motivated by whatever gets him revenge on the Harkonnens and the Emperor? Some more time spent on hearing what Paul really thinks might have been helpful.
Villenueve has an embarassment of riches behind the camera, and everyone is bringing their A-game. Greig Fraser returns as cinematographer, nailing the grand, widescreen moments of grandeur and action, turning the real deserts of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates into sparkling, alien wastelands of the highest beauty. He is also wise to use a lot more closeups in Part Two, utilizing the expressiveness of talented (and beautiful) actors like Chalamet, Zendaya, and Ferguson. The effects and production design teams continue to pepper in little futuristic devices whose uses could cleverly be understood after being on screen for even a second or two. Hans Zimmer returns for another powerful score, using the main "Dune" theme from Part One almost like an "applause now" sign that goes off after a particularly important piece of dialogue. They used this trick maybe one time too many, to the point where it started to become kind of funny.
The ending promises much more to come, making the as-of-yet-unconfirmed Part Three almost a certainty. Villenueve has a complete grip on how he wants to tell this story, and it's impossible to imagine anyone not wanting him to bring this cast and crew along with him for one more ride. It's a difficult thing in this day and age to put such an authoritative stamp on a big-budget blockbuster franchise, much less pull it off with the approval of audiences, critics, and the box office all at once. "Dune" is the next in the line of beloved movie franchises that capture the imagination of a generation, and thanks to Villenueve, it's also operating at the highest limits of craft and storytelling.
