Recent fluctuations in temperature and barometric pressure makes this question inevitable. What really is this season? At time of writing, we have experienced multiple ebbs and flows in heat and cool. Multiplexes, however, have been in a cold spell with nothing of note gracing their screens. Usually blockbuster season isn’t until May, so it was a surprise to see what very well may be the biggest movie of the year drop in Dune: Part Two.
Moved from last November to this March due to industry strikes, the follow-up to Denis Villeneuve’s stunning first half of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel became the most talked-about. Reaching levels of Barbenheimer, social media has been lit up with fervor. Walking into the theater, I was greeted with the first packed viewing since last July. Joyful to owners no doubt, this was a welcome sight to myself as film is essentially an audience-driven experience. And this didn’t disappoint.
When we last left off, Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica had been taken in by the desert people the Fremen. As we come to realize, the leader Stilgar thinks Paul is the messiah they have been waiting for. But Paul has other motives to avenge his father and his family from what Baron Harkonnen did to them. If this all starts to sound like a story from a galaxy far, far away; you would be not wrong. Clearly George Lucas and others have cribbed inspiration from Dune to make their space fantasies.
Villeneuve brings his own preternatural sense of scale and technical prowess here. After both Arrival and Blade Runner: 2049, he has a style well suited to this genre without sacrificing drama. Some critics have derided him for a kind of soullessness, which I find puzzling. One which I read seems to praise David Lynch’s original adaptation, something I feel even Lynch would find odd. Here we have smoother transitions and wonderfully edited sequences that build to more of a climax. As vast as the novel is, traversing passages even in a three-hour film would prove as difficult as moving across the planet Arrakis without a sand worm to grip onto.
Breathtaking uses of effects and practical location shots hurl us headlong into this world Denis is constructing. Abu Dhabi and Jordan never looked so beautiful as lensed by Greig Fraser, who won for the previous entry. I suspect he might win again here. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya kiss on sand dunes as Hans Zimmer’s score swells, romantic yet profoundly majestic as well. Both give strong performance, the best of their careers. And with a cast as stacked as this, that’s saying something. Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica expresses both loving mother and ruthless tactician in equal measure. Javier Bardem gives the most laughs as the Fremen leader and Paul’s teacher. But it is Austin Butler’s lascivious portrayal of the Baron’s nephew Feyd-Rautha is worth the price of admission. Gone are any memories of Elvis or Sting’s first iteration; his is pure evil incarnate. Between this, Masters of the Air and The Bikeriders; he has a big year ahead. Speaking of the latter, kudos goes to the marketers with the trailers preceding. Challengers (Zendaya) and Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), they knew what their job was. And it is shaping up to be a big year of movies.
But before end this review, I want to take the time to address importance of us in the mix. Studios have been taking filmgoers for granted by churning out blockbusters like processed cheese. Madame Web, a recent example, is something Dune is not. A production should be dedicated to serve the story before statistics. Art is ephemeral not mathematical, not unlike a certain spice. Hollywood, let it flow.
