Review: Dune: Part Two

After seeing Dune: Part Two, I have little to add to Greg Johnson’s fantastic review.

I found Zendaya’s Chani, a proud brown woman with an attitude who is nothing like the faithful companion of Paul Atreides that I remember from the Sci-Fi channel miniseries, to easily be the worst and most distracting character in the film. Otherwise, I thought Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Josh Brolin’s Gurney Halleck, Javier Bardem’s Stilgar, Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan and Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica to all be excellent and no better or worse than previous actors in these roles. I also enjoyed Jason Momoa’s Duncan Idaho and Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto Atreides in Dune: Part One. 

Obviously, the second most distracting aspect of Dune: Part Two is the Africanization of the Fremen who are portrayed as a mix of Berbers and sub-Saharan Africans. Villeneuve’s Fremen are more Maghreb than Near Eastern and not all what Frank Herbert had in mind. I found myself wondering if this might have something to do with the fact that the director is a French Canadian. Perhaps the seething underclass hordes of suburban Paris are just more familiar to Villeneuve than Egyptians?

As for the cunning and sadistic Harkonnens, I have no objections to what Villeneuve did here except that I agree with Greg that Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron Harkonnen is less memorable and entertaining that Ian McNeice’s version in the Sci-Fi channel Dune miniseries. Rabban is portrayed as just a brute in all three versions. Bautista’s Rabban is no better or worse than previous versions. I thought Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen was a plausible version of the character. I also enjoyed the innovative fascistic scenes on Giedi Prime which came as a relief after so many tedious scenes in the desert on Arrakis.

Christopher Walken’s Emperor Shaddam IV was underwhelming. Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan didn’t have enough screen time. I think Dune: Part Two would have benefited from more scenes on Salusa Secundus which is the homeworld of House Corrino and fewer social justice takes from Zendaya. If nothing else, Dune: Part Two could have at least focused on developing Paul and Chani’s relationship instead of subverting it and cutting out the life and death of their first child, which was a strange omission.

The special effects in Villeneuve’s Dune are far superior to previous versions. I recently rewatched the entire Sci-Fi Channel miniseries including Dune: Messiah and Children of Dune. Both are on YouTube. The contrast between the two shows what could have been done with a much bigger budget. Hopefully, Villeneuve will take the same liberties that he took with Giedi Prime to expand on the galactic jihad of Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Three instead of just sticking to the palace intrigue source material in Dune: Messiah. He seemed to be gesturing in this direction at the end of the film.

Overall, I enjoyed Dune: Part Two with these two caveats. I’m glad that I saw it on the big screen. I am sure that I would have enjoyed it less if I had waited to just stream it.