DUNE: PART TWO – A Review by John Strange
When Dune: Part One came out in 2021, I was impressed with the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel. The story deviated from the books, but not in ways that ruined my appreciation of the movie. I was impressed with the flair and panache as well as the cast I saw.
Dune: Part Two continues the story of the planet Arrakis (aka Dune) as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and the Fremen take the fight to the enemy led by Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista).
The love story between Paul and Chani (Zendaya) blossoms in between training and attacks on the spice harvesters. Between these scenes, we see the interactions between the emperor (Christopher Walken) and his daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). The story of Paul’s mother, the Bene Gesserit Sister Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), has a smaller role than I expected but it is still crucial to the flow of the story.
There is a lot of action, complete with huge worms and battles. The battles, big or little, had one thing in common, excellent choreography and cinematography spiced with some very good CGI.
There are a few major deviations from the novel that are in-your-face, but I can’t talk about them because they are spoilers, and the studio would have a huge fit if I leaked any of them. But I can say that while they caught my attention, I was able to get past my minor annoyance and thoroughly enjoy the film.
I watched the movie in the IMAX format from the 4th row (my choice). Even from there, the story was riveting and enjoyable.
After the, shall we say… several past attempts to make this novel into a feature film, this one comes as close as modern technology can come. To make this film and stay perfectly true to Frank Herbert’s novel would require a level of CGI that we just can’t do yet short of making it pure animation (which would be terrible).
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Christopher Walken
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language)
Selig Rating: 5 Stars
Runtime: 2 Hrs. 46 Min.
Release Date: 03/01/2024
Language: English
Movie Site: DUNE: PART TWO Official Site
Trailer: DUNE: PART TWO – Final Trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
