Grade: (9.3/10)
Dune: Part Two is a great example of what a sequel can be. The film takes what was set up in Dune and builds on it expertly.
Plot (45/50)
Whatever qualms I had with the first film feeling a bit incomplete are no more. Denis Villeneuve delivers a masterpiece filled with stunning cinematography and excellent pacing. Paul’s path to becoming the Lisan al Gaib takes center stage, but the empire’s politics and the Bene Gesserit’s meddling are always poking through. Paul quickly aligns his desire to avenge his father with the Fremen’s liberation efforts. The relationship between Paul and the Fremen changes radically as the film progresses. That evolution brings about important questions that will surely be addressed in the next film (should it happen).
Desert Power
The story picks up right where it left off, with Stilgar and his legion of Fedaykin leading Paul and Jessica to Sietch Tabr where they will discover their fate. On the way, they come across and easily eliminate a legion of Harkkonen soldiers. Upon arrival to Sietch Tabr, Paul is generally met with hostility, but there are some that bow down in reverence to who they think is the Lisan al Gaib. As Paul plots for revenge, Stilgar meets with the council. He lobbies them to keep Paul and Jessica as he believes that Paul is the Lisan al Gaib. The council is not as convinced, but Stilgar talks them into giving the two a chance.
In order to secure her place amongst the Fremen, Jessica must replace the dying Reverend Mother by drinking the poisonous Water of Life. Not only does Jessica survive, but the Water of Life gives her the ability to see into the past. It also gives consciousness to her unborn daughter. This development causes friction among the Fremen. Stilgar and the southerners take this as a definite sign that Paul is the Lisan al Gaib which Chani and the northerners reject all superstition. For his part, Paul attempts to distance himself from the prophecy. He doesn’t want to be a messiah, he just wants to fight alongside the Fedaykin.
Jessica, on the other hand, goes straight to work pushing her Bene Gesserit propaganda. She pushes the prophecy and urges the Fremen to believe in Paul as their long-awaited Lisan al Gaib. Meanwhile, Stilgar and Chani mentor Paul in the ways of the Fremen. After he learns how to navigate the desert, he’s allowed to fight alongside the Fedaykin. Paul gives the them a renewed energy. He contributes to a number of successful operations that significantly disrupt Spice harvesting. Their push north brings them within striking distance of Arrakeen. When it becomes clear that Rabban has lost control, the Baron takes action.
The Harkkonens Respond
The Baron returns to Geidi Prime to attend the birthday ceremony of his nephew, Feyd-Rautha. The supposed last three surviving members of House Atreides are served up to Feyd as a birthday present. He is to kill them in front of a massive adoring audience. He takes care of the first two easily enough as they were drugged up beforehand; however, he quickly discovers that the third Atreides was not drugged. Feyd gives the final Atreides a fair fight, and after a brief struggle, he triumphantly dispatches of him as well.
Later in the evening, when Feyd angrily confronts the Baron for putting him in harms way, the Baron claims that the fight was a test. Since Feyd passed with flying colors, the Baron rewards him by giving him control of Arrakis. If Feyd can get Spice production back on track, the Baron even promises to make him Emperor. Feyd spends the night with Lady Fenring, who was sent by Mohiam to secure the Harkkonen bloodline, before setting off to Arrakis the following day. When he arrives, he brutally displaces Rabban and moves to attack the Fremen.
At some point during the Harkkonen shakeup, Jessica had moved south to prepare the fundamentalists for the arrival of the Lisan al Gaib. Still in the north, Paul reunites with Gurney, who reveals the location of the Atreides atomics. Shortly after, Feyd makes his move. He completely decimates Sietch Tabr. This leaves the Fremen in a vulnerable position. Paul had resisted going south out of fear of what his rise to power would cause, but Feyd’s attack forces his hand. Paul, Gurney, Stilgar, and the rest of the Fremen flee south to join up with the fundamentalists.
Becoming Lisan al Gaib
Paul’s first action in the south is to drink the Water of Life. The poison almost kills him, but a Water-of-Life-infused tear from Chani brings him back to life. Paul can now see into the past and future. Of the past discoveries he makes, none is more shocking than the revelation that Jessica is the Baron’s son. Paul is both an Atreides and a Harkkonen. Furthermore, as he looks into the future, it becomes clear to him that he must take his place as leader of the Fremen if he and his family are to survive. And with so much at stake, he goes straight to work.
Paul makes an extremely aggressive entrance to the meeting of leaders. He dismisses their tradition of only letting leaders speak by refusing to kill Stilgar. This riles up the Fremen, but Paul doesn’t relent. He declares himself the Lisan al Gaib and galvanizes all detractors by demonstrating his ability to read their minds and see into their past. After securing leadership of the Fremen, Paul sends a letter to the Emperor demanding that he face him on Arrakis. He then mobilizes the Fedaykin and draws up a plan to attack Arrakeen. Over in Arrakeen, the Baron, spooked by the Emperor’s impending arrival, warns the Great Houses that Arrakis is under attack.
The Emperor’s questioning of the Baron is interrupted by Paul’s devastating attack. The city falls within a day. That’s no surprise considering Paul pulled no punches. He utilized the element of surprise, the large Fedaykin legions, sandworms, and atomics. The following day, Paul confronts the Emperor and demands the princess’ hand in marriage. Feyd steps in to fight on the Emperor’s behalf. After a tough battle, Paul triumphs over his cousin. Irulan agrees to marry Paul as long as he spares her father’s life. The Emperor is forced to bend the knee, but the Great Houses refuse to acknowledge Paul’s ascendancy. The film ends with Paul ordering the Fremen to war.
Overall Thoughts
Dune: Part Two does many things well, but if I had to single out one element of the writing that excelled the most, it’s the pacing. There are three very distinct acts, each seamlessly adding a layer to the story. Twists like Gurney’s survival, the Atreides atomic fleet, and the revelation of Jessica’s father, are brilliantly executed. They’re simple enough as to not complicate the story but extremely significant to the plot. All three developments served as catalysts that pushed the pace of the film. As I mentioned earlier, Villeneuve has mastered this “less is more” style.
Overall, there’s a whole lot to like about this film, but there were some minor issues mainly regarding the Emperor. At some point, the Baron promises to make Feyd Emperor, but his explanation for how he would make this happen doesn’t make sense. On another occasion, Mohiam tells Irulan that her father will lose his position as Emperor irrespective of who triumphs on Arrakis. Again, it’s not entirely clear why this is an inevitability. Should the Emperor’s conspiring be revealed, wouldn’t the Great Houses look to eliminate both him and the Harkkonens? Maybe I’m missing something, but the way I see it doesn’t add up.
In terms of the story itself, there was a consistency across both films in showing that Paul is creeping towards a seemingly inescapable fate, no matter what he does. In that regard, the sense of direction was constantly projected with the final destination being Paul’s transformation into a messiah. That didn’t make the film any less intriguing. If anything, it made Paul’s transformation all the more interesting. I also enjoyed the measured sci-fi and adventure elements of the film. They did a good job of making these elements meaningful to the story. Dune: Part Two is easily one of the films of the year.
Character Development (14/15)
Both films focus on Paul’s development, but whereas the first one didn’t offer much outside of Paul, this one gave a number of other characters a chance to develop. Jessica, Stilgar, and Gurney each have their own agenda, but they all look to push Paul towards taking power. To his credit, Paul seems genuine in his desire to fight with the Fremen as opposed to rule over them. At times, Chani is the only one pushing him to remain true to himself. Eventually, not even his love for Chani can hold Paul back from his destiny. Other important characters include the Emperor, Princess Irulan, the Baron, and Feyd-Rautha.
Paul Atreides
At the beginning of the film, Paul has one thing on his mind: revenge. When they’re first settling into Sietch Tabr, Paul explicitly tells his mother that he intends on galvanizing the Fremen to his cause, that cause being avenging his father’s death at the hands of the Harkkonens and the Emperor. His attitude is callous towards the Fremen. He views them as little more than a force to be exploited. His father spoke of desert power, and that’s exactly what Paul saw the Fremen as. This may seem uncharacteristic considering the compassion Paul shows the Fremen in the first film, but when you consider how traumatic the last few days have been for him, his attitude makes more sense.
Paul’s callousness quickly dissipates as he interacts with more Fremen. Despite pressure from both Jessica and Stilgar, Paul emphatically distances himself from the prophecy. He humbly asks that the Fedaykin take him under their wing, teach them their ways, and allow him to fight alongside them. Revenge is still on his mind, but his attitude towards the Fremen has completely changed. Paul aligns himself with the Fremen under the goal of liberating Arrakis knowing that doing so achieves his own goal in the process. Paul doesn’t intend on compromising his identity as a Duke, but he also knows that he must evolve.
And evolve he does. Paul develops a strong bond with the Fedaykin, so much so that he’s given the Fremen names of Usul and Muad’dib, the latter of which gains him notoriety. He develops a strong relationship with Chani based on pure love. At some point, he even lets go of his Atreides identity and fully embraces his new identity as a Fedaykin. All the while, he continues pushing back against Jessica and Stilgar’s desire to see him become the Lisan al Gaib. Paul has seen visions of the destruction that would be caused by his rise to power, so he’s insistent on not putting himself in that position.
Lisan al Gaib
Unfortunately, Paul’s inner peace is short-lived. Gurney’s reemergence adds to the enormous pressure from Jessica and Stilgar. By the time Gurney reveals that the Atreides atomics are intact, Paul’s resolve is hanging by a thread. Feyd’s emergence is the final blow. His attack on Sietch Tabr forces Paul’s hand. Despite exhausting so much effort fighting the prophecy, he finally succumbs to it. He travels south and takes the Water of Life. Chani saves him from near-certain death, but she’s unhappy with his choice. She too knows how dangerous Paul’s ascendancy will be for her people.
From this point on, Paul is a changed man. The sort of innocence and charm of the young Duke is almost instantaneously replaced with a cold disillusionment. The real Paul Atreides is still there, but he is buried deep inside, only to appear in brief sputters. Absolute knowledge of past and future events renders Paul’s individual agency obsolete. He is little more than a vessel, a machine, or a talking head. He has no option but to follow the one path that leads to his family’s survival, no matter the horrors he will cause along the way.
To be clear, these are the consequences Paul must face for choices he made. It’s easy for us to empathize with him because we see him earnestly try to avoid this path, but it’s important for us to acknowledge that he does ultimately succumb to the pressure. Good intentions or not, he’s responsible for what’s to come. Paul as the Lisan al Gaib is ruthless and domineering. He knows no limitations nor is he afraid to challenge anyone. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops in the next film (assuming it happens). Until then, I’ll reserve judgement for his new character.
Three Devils
One of the best-developed aspects of the film was the tug-of-war between Paul and his three mentors: Jessica, Stilgar, and Gurney. All three characters played a significant role in Paul’s development, and all three wanted to see him rise to power, albeit for different reasons. This made for a fascinating dynamic especially because Paul spent most of the film resisting their influence.
Of the three characters, Jessica acted with the most malice. After drinking the Water of Life and becoming the Fremen’s Reverend Mother, Jessica turns into this scary, evil figure. The Bene Gesserit had laid the foundation for one of their own to rise to power on Arrakis, and Jessica fully intended on having that person be Paul. And in order to achieve that goal, she exploited the culture of the Fremen. At first, she targeted the most vulnerable of the Fremen. And as word of Paul’s victories spread, her influence continued to grow. Paul may have been the one to walk the path, but his mother was the one that paved it.
On the other hand, Stilgar and Gurney’s motivations were much simpler and certainly less sinister. Like many Fremen, Stilgar genuinely believed in the prophecy. He wanted to see the rise of the Lisan al Gaib because he saw that as the only way for his people to achieve liberation. Paul demonstrated the signs and mannerisms of the promised messiah. He was just as capable as he was humble and endearing. Furthermore, he proved himself invaluable in the battlefield. From Stilgar’s point of view, all the stars were aligning. Gurney just wanted revenge for his fallen brothers and for Leto’s assassination.
One Angel
In terms of influential people in Paul’s life, this leaves Chani as the only one pulling Paul in the opposite direction. She loved him for who he was: a humble, caring, empathic man trying his best to navigate the chaos. Chani saw that Paul had no intentions of exploiting the Fremen, and that set him apart from other foreigners. He had also demonstrated a strong sense of morality and the willpower to resist the call to power.
When Paul eventually succumbs to the pressure, she’s mortified and disgusted. She feels betrayed, and rightfully so. By becoming the Lisan al Gaib, Paul had succeeded where others had failed. In Chani’s eyes, that makes him worse than all those who tried to exploit the Fremen before him. Chani continues to fight alongside Paul and the Fedaykin, but she’s only fighting for her people. She wants the Fremen to liberate themselves because she fears that otherwise, they’d be replacing one oppressor with another.
The way Chani sees it, the Fremen took Paul in when he was vulnerable. They nurtured him and accepted him as one of their own. For him to repay that faith by exploiting their beliefs is infuriating on multiple levels. To add insult to injury, Paul publicly humiliates Chani by proposing to Irulan, a woman he doesn’t even know. There’s no doubt that Chani still loves Paul just as he still loves her, but to say their relationship just got significantly more complicated is an understatement.
The Conspirators
The primary antagonists of Paul’s story are ostensibly the Harkkonens. We were already introduced to the Baron and Rabban in the first film, although there were some surprising developments in their characters. For someone with a reputation for being ruthless, the Baron was awfully slow to react to the rise of Muad’dib. Even the Emperor was shocked by how ineffective the Baron had been in dealing with Muad’dib. Then there’s Rabban. On face value, he seemed like a competent general. That couldn’t be further from the truth. It turns out, his only skill is leveraging his Harkkonen blood to induce fear. Take that away, and all that’s left is a big cowardly bully.
Back to the Baron, even though he was slow to react to the insurgent Fremen threat, he did react. Feyd’s impact on Arrakis was instantaneous. He was able to get spice production under control by being both bold and strategic with his attack. Feyd is quite an interesting character for a couple of reasons. He’s clearly psychotic, yet he adheres to some code of honor. That complexity makes him a compelling villain. More importantly, it sets up a consequential dynamic between him and Paul. In a sense, Paul is following an inverted path to that of Feyd. He’s an honorable man that is about to go on a psychotic tear. This will be worth revisiting in the future.
Finally, we have the Emperor and the Bene Gesserit. The Bene Gesserit is the true sinister force in this story. They operate in a clandestine way and are unabashedly manipulative of everything and everyone. They have absolutely no regard for who they hurt or what damage they cause. The only thing that matters is their agenda. Anyone that steps out of their realm of control is a threat. I imagine the Emperor knew as much. That would explain why he followed their council almost to a subservient degree. Princess Irulan is loyal to the Bene Gesserit, but she also displays the wisdom I expected to see from the Emperor. She’s definitely one to watch.
Theme/Messages (4/5)
- Religious fanaticism is extremely dangerous. When in full force, there’s not much else that can match its danger.
- Vengeance is also dangerous, although the dangers are typically also felt by the initiator.
- Doing what must be done vs. what you feel is right is a tricky predicament.
- There’s some commentary on colonialism and the exploitation of indigenous people.
- How much fighting back is justified? How is that measured, if at all possible?
Acting (15/15)
There were a number of impressive performances in this film, but none as impressive as that one delivered by Timothée Chalamet (Paul). What he does in the third act is simply captivating. Everything from his facial expressions to his body language to his cadence is immaculate. Chalamet is a star. If you didn’t know it already, you know it now.
I ranked the rest of the cast’s performances in this thread:
Cinematography (15/15)
Truly stunning film. Go see it in IMAX while you still have a chance. I’ve already seen it twice.