Dune: Part Two

What The Empire Strikes Back is to A New Hope, Dune: Part Two is to the previous film. In short, it's a perfectly natural sequel that doesn't suffer from the infamous ills of second parts, but continues to develop the story, stretching it out to unexpected breadth and depth, and from the opening scene gives the impression that last time it was just a set-up of pieces on a chessboard and a few tentative but thoughtful moves, but the real game only begins now. Stunning is probably the word that describes Dune: Part Two in every possible way. The elaborate script, the breathtaking desert scenery in particular, the believability, the palpability, the actors and actresses who just really are those characters. Even those unfamiliar with the source material will easily understand what makes Herbert's work special when they see all the unexpected turns the plot takes. Special mention must again go to Hans Zimmer, who probably hasn't composed anything decent since the last Dune because he was working on the second part. As was the case with the last film, I now have no choice but to believe that I will see the next installment(s), because all those ajar doors and gates are just so very tempting. (02/29/2024)

I found the first one better, it was more tightly plotted and somehow more engaging, more thoughtful in its introduction to the fantasy world of Arrakis, I understood more the motives of each of the characters. And yet, even there, Denis Villeneuve didn't forget the visual magic - the arrival of Leto Atreides and his long flight in an ornithopter was so visually sexy. Even the Hans Zimmer music was more interesting to me in the first part. The second part is actually quite different in that respect, especially plot-wise in the second half, BUT .... then Denis unloaded some iconic scenes, from the first worm ride, to the black and white arena, to the frontal attack of the worms, with the seated fremen and their flapping scarves, and he had me in the palm of his hand again. The first part was food for the senses and the brain, the second one only for the senses, but you know, I'm a simple person, even Villeneuve pulling excellent visual ideas on me like Houdini pulls rabbits out of a hat is enough to make me happy. Only that Zimmer has been feeling bit tired in the last years and instead of his typical rumbling it wouldn't hurt to reach for some compositional melodic ideas again. (03/16/2024)

An experience after an experience. And also an internal redefinition of when it still makes sense to pay absurd amounts for sitting in front of a giant screen with a perfect audio set. The well-deserved praise is abundant, so perhaps just to the extent that compared to the first part, it may lack a certain lightness that seemed to stem from Denis Villeneuve's awareness of huge expectations, refusing to make the slightest wrong step. This paradoxically happens at the moment when to fit into a runtime of under three hours, and to keep the widest audience in theaters, especially in the last third, it is edited in a way that you completely feel those missing fragments (especially if you have read it) and mentally beg for another hour. But otherwise, it is all we fervently wished for two years. It is an absolute peak of Hollywood craftsmanship in the best possible form. It is a visual masterpiece and total overkill of cinematic sound design, to which Hans Zimmer's galactic chorales respectfully yielded. For the first time, I truly understood how people felt forty years ago when they were shown Star Wars in movie theaters. (03/03/2024)

The main problem I had with the first Dune was that I had a hard time finding even one single character whose fate I cared about. It was a beautiful but cold and empty film. The second film, however, manages to repair the series' reputation in that sense rather quickly. The heroes finally do something interesting, they talk to each other, the debates have a point, and Villeneuve wraps it all up in just a little bit nicer visuals. Dune: Part Two is more beautiful, but also more action-packed, brisker and more watchable. Until suddenly it isn't. Villeneuve seems to realise after a hundred minutes or so that he still has a lot of story to tell and that he just can't cram it into the remaining hour. So he hits the gas and the film is suddenly unnecessarily rushed, running away from interesting topics because he still has to finish this or that. And while the final battle looks really magnificent, once again, with the closing credits, I got the feeling that there may very well be a great story behind this beautiful film, but even this time it didn't get told in the way it deserved. Unlike the first part, I wasn't bored this time, but if I ever see this part again, it will be before the premiere of the eventual third. For despite all the qualities, there is still a certain aftertaste of incompleteness. (02/27/2024)

A wonderfully hypnotic and transcendent grandiose work of epic proportions that finally satisfied me to the fullest. To be honest I was very skeptical, because I didn’t like the first part very much; it was extremely slow for my taste, slightly uninteresting, it lacked any memorable wow scene (there are several here), that would make me want to watch the movie again sometime, and the action scenes were a real bummer (especially the shields, which looked like cheesy CGI effects from SyFy, really bad in contrast to the world, which looks visually stunning). Thankfully, Denis Villeneuve himself realized this and the shields are kept to a minimum, almost non-existent. The second episode had me glued to my seat right from the start, it's simply more rewarding to watch and it deals with more interesting things. I did enjoy all the customs and traditions of the Fremen (there is a lot of inspiration from the Arab world here: names, costumes, religion, but I really liked that here). Audiovisually, it's flawless, the Greig Fraser/Hans Zimmer connection is very effective, all the huge monuments, machines, worms are hypnotically captivating, and the music is wonderfully ear-splitting and chill-inducing. The Harkonnens are also perfect, their world and traditions are nicely dark and twisted, and the entrance of Austin Butler is brilliant (though he doesn't appear until halfway through the film and doesn't get as much space). Timothée Chalamet's transformation into the leader is believable and (every speech where he roars is great), the chemistry with Zendaya works too – especially at the end it had a strong emotional impact on me and the final epic battle could have been longer but was satisfying. (maybe they hired a new choreographer, because the fights are much better, though I wish it was R-rated). I'm glad I finally lost myself in Dune, albeit for the second time, but even that counts. I enjoyed every minute of it in the cinema, and the last time was with Poor Things, which is a different genre. I'm really looking forward to the third installment, with the addition of my favourite Anya Taylor Joy (a cast of the most talented young actors together!!). (03/04/2024)

I can't deny Villeneuve's amazing ability to create captivating images and materialize fantastic book worlds, but Herbert's "Dune" with giant worms and a strange combination of spaceships and medieval society equipped with cutting weapons always seemed dysfunctional to me. I just can't immerse myself in that world, I can't enjoy it, and I'm not able to appreciate it. Unfortunately, Denis Villeneuve did not use his talent for dozens of other titles of science fiction literature, on which the genre is built. Something like "Roadside Picnic" in Villeneuve's rendition would be an irresistible treat. Overall impression: 60%. (03/11/2024)

Impressive scale, a strong story that goes brutally against all modern trends and a young cast in top form (Austin Butler is demonic). It looks gorgeous, the polished design (a black and white planet!) where they paid attention to every detail surpasses the benchmark first film in places, and Hans Zimmer has taken the score to an even higher level. I liked the first part of Dune a bit more, though. It was more meditative and fresh. Here we're playing it safe and the cinemas are bursting at the seams. SPOILERS: It's interesting that a film about a colonizer who infiltrates a terrorist organization of religious fanatics and declares Jihad (it's interesting that they avoid that label) on the entire world order to avenge the death of his father gets this kind of space. Prophetic? We shall see. Denis Villeneuve has been mum about the third installment so far, and he's doing well because the leap to Savior is huge. Much more personal and the scale is smaller. The ending is bleak. (03/03/2024)

With a bit of exaggeration, you could say of this colossal film it is about the USSR fighting the Arabs for oil and the Americans pulling the strings. Dune: Part Two is the pinnacle of modern big screen in every way. From the engaging storytelling, to the sound design, the fantastic sets, the visual effects, the sound and Hans Zimmer's beauty. Hands down, this a brilliant job by the filmmakers and the actors. A monumental epic that for years was considered unfilmable has succeeded for the second time. Everybody says it can't be done, until somebody does it. And that somebody is Denis Villeneuve. The event of the year – the riding of the worm and the duel between Chalamet and Butler are absolute cinematic delights. And the whiners who will complain about the final third and who knows what else are not worth addressing. (03/09/2024)

Mature sci-fi with mature themes that value the intellect of its audience. Can't we get that more often? Before I get to my minor reservations, I must first point out three things. Go to the cinema. Go to the cinema. And thirdly, go to the cinema. For epic cinematic feats in which everything is technically correct and yet completely mesmerising and impressive on an unreal scale, it makes sense to put money into buying a ticket. In short, Dune: Part Two delivers the viewing experience in all its glory. And it could easily have been over three hours long – even at 166 minutes it feels too short in places, and an extra quarter of an hour would have been easily enough. A more significant problem for me is the fact that Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya have almost zero chemistry with each other and their relationship, although the mainstay of the film, feels rushed and unconvincing. Emotionally, I simply didn't tune in to the characters. In any case, in many other ways, Denis Villeneuve translates the book into film language very effectively and once again raises the bar of contemporary science fiction a little higher. And although we'll probably have to wait quite a long time for the third film, I'm looking forward to it a lot and I'm curious to see what kind of spectacle he'll have in store for us again. (02/27/2024)

Dune: Part Two is a narrative epic with all the trimmings: while the first part was an appetizer about the sandy world of the dunes, the second expedition to Arrakis is a full-fledged main course that pleases the visual and auditory senses to perfection, while offering a mature story that interweaves the gripping and suspenseful storylines started three years ago. Denis Villeneuve could be described as a kind of "court cinema-filmmaker", as his films of recent years are a prime example of how the possibilities of the big screen and a powerful sound system can be fully exploited to achieve an unprecedented audience experience in the form of an audiovisual orgy that does not come across as shallow and kitsch. For less than three hours, which pass like water in the cinema, you are immersed in intricate political intrigues and embark on the chosen path of a Saviour who is not afraid to go through numerous victims and corpses. But Dune: Part Two is not only well shot and written, but also well acted – and you doesn't often see such a plethora of stars in the cinema. Although it is a polished project from an audiovisual point of view, I highly praise the "black and white" scenes from the Harkonnen arena, which seemed to evoke Nazi Germany and had an incredible charge despite the absence of colour. I'm curious to see what they will come up with in the next (and final?) installment, which hopefully we'll see one day, but in this case, the wait for quality is certainly worth it. (03/05/2024)