So I have finally seen Denis Villeneuve's Dune Part 2, and unsurprisingly, it's a cinematic
masterpiece from the auteur filmmaker. I was completely floored by the way Denis has elevated
what we got in part 1, and how specifically, he brought the ending of Frank Herbert's seminal
novel to life. It's part-epic, part-moving, part-reflective, and for me, it may be the
new benchmark for science fiction filmmaking on the big screen. So in this video, I'm going
to be giving you my spoiler free review for Dune Part 2, discussing why it's one of my favourite
Science Fiction movies of all time and why I think it may be Denis Villeneuve's magnum opus.
Before I get into my review though, if you want to keep up to date on any of my upcoming content
for Dune Part 2 during its release, including breakdowns and a spoiler-filled video essay,
then don't forget to support this upload by giving it a like rating, subscribing to the channel and
turning on your notifications. But without further a do, lets dive into my review for Dune Part 2.
It's been a long wait to see Dune Part 2 finally come to the big screen, and after delays and so
much anticipation, Denis Villeneuve's film is absolutely incredible. Masterpiece is often a
word that is thrown around a lot for great movies of our era, and hell I've been accused of that
many times with films like the first Dune, The Batman, Oppenheimer and other event films breaking
ground. But after watching Dune Part 2 it's hard to call it anything other than a masterpiece,
because this film is truly exceptional. After watching it I barely had any big criticisms other
than as a book reader, being slightly dissapointed that some characters were cut down or cut out of
the final piece. But that does not in any way shape or form drag down Villeneuve's film,
because it drives with mesmerising pace, and the central themes, beats and storyline of the
novel play out perfectly with added elevation. Known as the unfilmable
science fiction novel, Denis Villeneuve set out to achieve his dream of telling Paul Atreides
story on the desert planet Arrakis, with the first film being a critical success and making
over $400 million at the box office, despite releasing on HBO Max at the same time due to the
pandemic. Writers and actors strikes then posed a new problem with part two, but Villeneuve has
delivered a new kind of sci-fi spectacle for the big screen with his second entry. The table was
laid and the worldbuilding was done, and Part two could hold nothing back in its efforts to create
a big screen experience for next generation of moviegoers like nothing before it. For me,
it’s a more muscular movie than the first, it's more powerful, it's darker and it's weirder,
bringing to life some of the most complex yet engaging ideas from Frank Herbert's
novel in surreal blockbuster fashion. It might just be the best sequel of our time and Denis
Villeneuve may have just asserted hiself as one of the greatest science fiction directors.
When it comes to the plot of Dune Part 2, Villeneuve and his co-writer Jon Spaihts have
put together a dense script with almost every major plot line from the novel being brought
to screen. It's a script that seduces both fans of the material and newcomers, without making a watch
of part 1 absolutely necessary. I mean I would recommend it but it's more power to the screenplay
for being able to focus on part 2 individually. The story picks up immediately after the end
of the first film, with Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica joining the Fremen in their long fight
against the Harkonnens, beginning with the body transporting of Jamis, in a similar structure to
Herbert's novel. We soon learn that while Stilgar and his fremen followers believe that Paul is the
messiah that will lead them to paradise, that the younger Fremen which eventually includes Chani
become more skeptical. Villeneuve and co fill the first hour or so with battle scenes showing
the fierce counter of Fremen warriors in their fight against the Harkonnens too. It's brutal,
operatic and quite simply stunning to watch on screen. But these scenes are also countered
with more human moments that make the central themes of this story all the more interesting,
and its done so in a much deeper way then what we got in Herbert's novel. As Paul slowly wins
over the Fremen, it stresses on the two sides of reaction to his rising stature,
and framing that more through Zendaya's Chani, was a genius move by the filmmaker, as it didn't
just deepen the characters involved, but it also enrichened the true internal struggles of the
Dune story out loud. On the other side of things, there's the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen who calls in
his psychotic nephew Feyd-Rautha to bring Arrakis back under their control, and their involvement
on Geidi Prime is contrasted and visually differentiated in a perfect way using black
and white infrared. Just like the book they don't quite realise that the Fremen Muad'dib is actually
the last surviving member of house Atreides, and that in turn it could stop the Baron's hidden
quest for the throne and the Emperor's continuous rule. Again with Feyd, the Emperor and Princess
Irulan, these characters have been expanded upon in Part two and we get moments with them that
you would never have expected after reading the material. And this itself helps us connect more to
the conflict and the characters involved. And yet with all the complexity in religion and politics
spread out across the extensive list of figures, Villeneuve is able to bring it all down into
something meaningful and approachable. It rests on the love story between Paul and Chani, with
their chemistry quickly selling the romance to us. This was something that may have been a problem
under different hands because a lot of that early bonding is skipped over in the novel because of a
big two year time skip. Villeneuve has effectively made changes to the whole structure of his second
part so that the characters will have more depth and so that by the time we get to the ending,
the decisions and outcome is much more powerful than expected. There's a true
sincerity to scenes that Chalamet and Zendaya share and it becomes a somewhat warm contrast
to the brutalist feeling of other sequences in the movie. The turmoil of the film doesn't just
come from the war between multiple sides, its within those individual sides as well, bringing
us more complexity to what could have been just a linear telling of the chosen one storyline. It
really is an epic expansion of everything from the book and again the only thing that I could
consisder as weaker here, is the lessening impact of other characters from the novel to
make way for the central players in the plot. Speaking of those complex relationships though,
one of the standout aspects of Dune Part 2 is of course the incredible individual performances that
drive the movie. Despite an even more stacked cast in the second film, each character has a scene
stealing moment, yet the two leads are able to shine through with the strongest work. We get the
subversive extremity of Paul Atreides and Timothee Chalamet does an unbelivable job of showcasing
the turn of his character. Frank Herbert intended Dune to be a critique of the charismatic leader,
and with Villeneuve doubling down on that in his writing and direction, Chalamet is able to play
Paul with range and a constant sense of doom. We see how Paul grapples with both revenge and his
inner fears of destructive destiny, with Chalamet subtely showing that turn before exploding in
moments onscreen too. It's all the anti-hero you want and expect from Dune and thanks to the
leading actor we get a performance that delivers anger, despair and passion all at the same time.
Then there's Zendaya’s Chani, who is exactly what Villeneuve said she was in being the movie's true
heart. There's more toughness in her performance than as described in the book, but then there's
also a depiction of sadness there too, with all the fanaticism around Paul and once she realizes
the true end of their cause. The rest of the cast is just as impressive, even though a few get
shorter screen time. Javier Bardem's Stilger is at times a comforting figure amongst the Fremen, even
though he becomes uncompromising in his pursuit of their religious ideals. Rebecca Ferguson as
Lady Jessica has more political impact here too, being allowed to fully go into the Bene Gesserit
schemes surrounding Paul, becoming both his ally and antagonist. Their paths become quite different
to the material, but the impact of Jessica is just as important, becoming more effective than her arc
in part one. When it comes to the antagonists, Stellan Skarsgard’s Baron Harkonnen and Dave
Bautista’s Rabban get some great moments but are slightly sidelined, because the viewpoint of their
side is primarily fixated on Austin Butler’s unhinged Feyd-Rautha. He's as psychotic as
you would expect and at times barely human. And it's not just his look that drives that,
it's the way the actor uses his voice, movements and the way he delivers certain lines that help
communicate the reverse ideals between him and paul. He's a walking example of violence and
it reminds you of how effective some of the best franchises have split their heroes and villains
down the middle using performances, designs and thematics. The great thing about Villeneuve's Dune
though is that here, no one is strictly heroic and on top of the characters communicating that,
the production and aesthetics elevate it too. Again, there are changes to some of
the character work, especially with a certain atreides that might upset purists of the novel,
but the path is the same and the impact of the main beats of the story is what carries it over
the line and then some. Villeneuve maintains the certain weirdness and power of a particular
character and in my opinion, the changes made lead to a better adaptation. Herbert wanted his
original book to be a warning, and he felt that he needed to write another book to make that clearer.
Villeneuve understood that assignment, dialed that up to 11, and then made certain changes
that were necessary for the overall piece. Another absolute standout element of Part two,
which to be honest I could probabaly gush over for a whole entire video, is the epic eleveation
of the film through both its battle sequences and the filmmaking work to capture that. With
the amount of story elements for Villeneuve to put onscreen in an almost 3 hour runtime,
Part Two doesn't lose its momentum nor feel like there's too much because it is structured
perfectly. It rivals some of the best action and war movies through great pacing and an impecable
craft. The Battle scenes, especially those in the last hour, are some of the most impressively
staged scenes since Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings films. You follow every character though
these moments and the fight choreography lets you feel every impact, reminding you that in the
hands of another studio or blockbuster property, this could have been executed poorly. Moving on,
cinematographer Greig Fraser, who won the best cinematography Oscar the first time out,
has topped his achievements once again with painting-like photography using color and light
in stunning fashion during both the intimate and wide angle shots. There's then Hans Zimmer who
once again delivers with his score, doing an even better job of differentiating the themes of the
different factions and cultures. And finally, the visual effects work and sound design have
reached new heights with part two feeling like they work hand in hand to create an incredibly
visceral and detailed experience for the audience. It's especially remarkable what the vfx team
accomplished with this and you feel every penny of that increased budget put straight onscreen with
stunning sandwork action, explosions and fully realised battles. For me, it's a new achievement
in tactile action cinema and on a technical level, it combines the escapism and detail
that very few blockbusters manage to capture. Overall, Dune Part 2 is the kind of blockbuster
you get when a studio and a filmmaker are willing to go all out on something gigantic.
But do so with care and attention, making a modern event film in the practices of the old
where things are photographed with real detail and characters are allowed to give performances
with true nuance. We don't get enough of them in the current era, but when we do it strikes
a cord and the audience most of the time turns up to support it. I can see the same thing happening
with Dune Part 2 and the execution of the piece, ranging from its approach to story to the way its
executed feels like a new standard for how massive films with plenty of action can be approach. The
action is its own character in part two and everything has been well thought out, from
the fighting styles to the framing of action to the combined use of practical work and vfx. It's
everything you want in a modern day bloackbuster epic and its not afraid to take risks, expand
on the material and end on darker sensibilities. These sensibilities are there in the book anyway,
and by understanding the material and where this story is going, Denis Villeneuve has given
us the ultimate second chapter in his planned trilogy. Those who didn't love the first film's
open ending might find a similar problem with the end of Part two, but for me, having read the book
and understanding that this part is a chapter of revenge and destiny, I found power in those
ending scenes. Even though it will be a struggle to wait for Messiah after how good part 2 was,
I will be patient when it comes to the closing chapter of Villeneuve's adaptation. It promises
a lot, and when it comes to science fiction, it seems that Denis Villeneuve consistently raises
the game. In my opinion, it's the best movie of the year so far and I struggle to see how
a film of this scale, will be able to satisfy me as much as this did. Of course that may happen,
but like Oppenheimer last year, it feels like a once in a generation film.
But that was my spoiler free review for Denis Villeneuve's Dune Part 2. Going into the
director's adaptation of Dune, there were many ways it could have failed. It was labelled an
unfilmmable sci-fi book for a reason. But not only does Part 2 succeed in its adaptation,
it surpasses everything in the first film, taking a strange and tragic story and pushing it forward
towards culminating blockbuster heights. It was a gamble by Villeneuve to deliver a two part epic of
Herbert's novel, but he has done so incredibly well with both nuance and significance. Yet,
there's the opportunity to truly round off Paul's story with Dune Messiah and it would be incomplete
if you couldn't wrap up the trilogy. I think that is bound to happen after Dune
Part 2, as the film took the simplicity of a space opera, combined it with the prescient themes of
the novel and we end up in an entirely new place. With its central focus on critiquing heroism, Part
Two's execution redefines what kind of stories event blockbusters can tell and I think it will
be a long while before we see a science fiction film on the level that this was. That's of course
unless Messiah comes along and raises the bar even further. I'm giving Dune Part 2 a rating of
9.5 out of 10. But to those who have already seen the film what did you think of Denis Villeneuve's
Dune Part 2, and do you agree that it's a science fiction film for the ages. Like I said, for me
it's a leap up from the original and I wouldn't be surprised if continued the trend of that film,
earning lots of award nominations later this year. It's all subjective and I appreciate a range of
reactions and reviews, so let me know down below in the comments section what you personally
thought towards the film alongside things that stood out with your first impressions.
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