Disclaimer: All following opinions are my own and in no way reflect the opinion of the Panther Prowl, Roseville High School, or Roseville Community Schools. I am not, in any way, a professional film critic – I am purely expressing my opinions.
On Mar. 1 of this year the film Dune: Part Two was released in theaters, directed and partially written by Denis Villeneuve and starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya alongside many others. I was luckily able to obtain a couple of tickets to see it the day before.
For some background information the film is the second part of three planned to adapt the 1965 science fiction novel ‘Dune’ and its sequel by Frank Herbert. The first part, simply titled Dune, was released in 2021 and has an 83% critic review on Rotten Tomatoes. Some of the cast has been carried over from the first part, however, much of the cast in its sequel are entirely new such as actors Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh.
Now, Dune: Part Two sits comfortably at a solid two hours and forty-six minutes in runtime, only ten minutes longer than the first part. It has already received a 96% critic review on Rotten Tomatoes, a staggering 13% higher than a previous incredible score. Both the novel and the movies have broken the typical cultural zeitgeist around science fiction movies and television in the United States, with other popular properties such as Star Trek and Star Wars being considered pulpy or childish by many. The property thought up by Herbert in general has much more adult tones and themes – such as those of colonization, religion, guerilla warfare, and politics – which work to engross a reader or watcher in the setting created by Herbert, one which is set in the far future of our own universe.
My review will not be based on its quality as an adaptation, only as a film. Now, finally, I will dive into my Dune: Part Two (2024) review.
The male lead role, Paul Atreides, is portrayed by actor Timothée Chalamet – an actor who I personally believe to be the defining male actor of my generation. He has been in such films as Lady Bird (2017), Wonka (2023), and Call Me by Your Name (2017), which had a 99%, an 82%, and a 94% critic review on Rotten Tomatoes respectively. Though he was only playing a leading role in the latter two he put on a spectacular performance in all three. Chalamet by far provides the best performance, playing the initially rejective role and portraying Paul Atreides downfall into a tyrannical messianic figure in a hauntingly beautiful way. Chalamet has range only seen by the likes of Meryl Streep. I am excited to see what Chalamet will do next in his career.
The female lead role, Chani, is portrayed by the actress Zendaya who is well known from the film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and its sequels as well as the Disney sit-com Shake It Up (2010-2013). I feel she is an excellent actress, one which fills her roles perfectly, the sort of actress when as soon as she portrays a character you cannot imagine the role being casted any differently. As I just said, there is no casting better for the role of Chani than Zendaya herself, as she can muster the chemistry, the romance, and the heartbreak that comes with the role in an amazing way. She is undeniably a great actress in any role, and I would enjoy seeing her in other works that step out of the genre of science fiction, as it is often a stigmatized genre, and to see her in more grounded movies which may be accepted as more serious cinema by some stingier critics.
Not to leave the other actors out, many other actors gave tremendous performances as well. Actor Javier Bardem plays the role of Stilgar perfectly, he is funny, moving, and a joy to watch. Both Rebecca Ferguson and Austin Butler play roles – Jessica and Feyd-Rautha respectively – which a watcher loves to hate in the best way possible. Ferguson plays a deceitful and witchy character, one which you cannot help but dread every calculated action she makes. Butler’s character, Feyd-Rautha, is a psychotic and sickening character who makes your skin crawl with every line. Walken and Pugh play the Emperor and Princess Irulan respectively, and even though their roles are minor overall they still provided spectacular performances.
Though this review is not concerned with adaptation of the source material the screenplay still sticks to the original novel as closely as it could without being word-for-word. Even though the film is nearly three hours long the script makes the pace flow, even if it is not quick, I was never bored or felt as if the plot had slowed to a crawl. It keeps the pace steady throughout for the most part, however, towards the end it seems to speed up a good bit because of the heavy action.
The direction was phenomenal, Villeneuve is a master of the screen, never once did shots feel wrong to me, they always provided exactly what they should. The cinematography played a key role in this – the cameras perfectly clung to the action and glided over the landscapes beautifully. The costumes and props lent to this in a fantastic way, not once did a piece of a set or a weapon or anything feel out of place, it was seamless. The graphical effects were quite impressive as well, providing a scale that matched and at times bested Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023), the CGI never looked bad, and impressed on a divine scale. The best part though was the sound design, the music and sound effects were beautiful and worked to blend everything together, making the tone of the entire movie perfect.
In conclusion, the film is undeniably the greatest to ever come out of the science fiction genre and one of the greatest films of all time. It trumps its predecessors in the genre, including the movie it is the sequel to, in every single way. I would personally rate the movie a five out of five, and I recommend it to anyone who has the patience for a film of that length.
