3/5/2024 - Worth the Popcorn: Movie Review - Dune: Part Two
In this podcast, Bill Lee and Justin Tiemeyer review the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two. With an 81.5 million dollar debut at the box office, it’s certainly making waves across cinemas.
Arrakis—Dune—Desert Planet.
For anyone who has read—or attempted to read, several times, in the case of this reviewer—Frank Herbert’s masterpiece of modern science fiction titled simply Dune, this brief phrase is as familiar as the Nuprin ads of old: Little—Yellow—Different. (A special thanks is due to the 1992 film Wayne’s World for immortalizing that catch phrase during its parody of corporate advertising in film.) Even for those who have never read Herbert’s original 1965 novel, or its five sequels, or David Lynch’s 1985 film adaptation starring Kyle MacLachlan, there is something of Dune that has penetrated into everyday life. Take, for example, the short-lived Duplass brothers series Togetherness on HBO, where two best friends take an American Beauty-adjacent break from their status quo to film a puppet show version of Dune they had begun as children, or Alejandro Jodorowsky’s doomed film adaptation which has been immortalized in the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune.
The current series of film adaptations are likely to contribute handily to Dune’s reach. Dune: Part One, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Timothée Chalamet as Paul, Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides, and Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, was easily one of the best films of 2021, and its sequel Dune: Part Two, which more heavily features Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, and Zendaya as Chani while introducing Austin Butler as Fayd-Rautha Harkonnen and Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, was one of the most anticipated blockbusters of 2024, perhaps only eclipsed by the July release of Deadpool & Wolverine. Christopher Walken did a good Christopher Walken impression as the emperor, which is especially funny when you consider his dance number from the music video for the Dune-inspired Fatboy Slim song “Weapon of Choice” with the lyrics, “Walk without rhythm, and it won’t attract the worm.”
Following the genocide of the Atreides people at the hands of the Harkonnens in the first installment, the second film follows Paul and Lady Jessica as the former contemplates revenge and the latter power. Plotwise, Dune: Part Two, is a sandbox campaign (do not forgive the pun; EMBRACE the pun!) of political moves and battles, all of which serving the purpose of revealing Paul Atreides in his many facets—as the son of Duke Leto, compassionate and kind, as the scion of the Bene Gesserit, a messiah of great power, as a fighter within the Fremen, a servant, not a leader, and as a spoiler-ridden fourth identity that turns the whole thing on its head and makes viewers question everything. Considering the fact that Frank Herbert wrote the original series while obsessed with the mind-enhancing powers of psilocybin, it should not be surprising that the outward struggle and the inner struggle are one, and the world may either thrive or kneel based on the power of Paul’s mind alone.
There are a couple of glaring problems with Dune: Part Two. The first of which is the way it courts the problematic white savior trope, where a white person is seen as a liberator, rescuer, or savior, as the term implies, for non-white and often indigenous people. The entire idea that Paul Atreides is somehow a messiah for the native Fremen of Arrakis, even as he says all the right words and devotes himself to serve as Muad’dib, is a pretty typical example of the trope. It does seem that Villeneuve was sensitive to the fault in the original material, and he confronts it head-on through disbelieving Fremen like Chani and her friend Shishakli (Souheila Yacoub). He also puts some work into questioning whether Paul is ultimately a good person and his actions ultimately in service of the Fremen at all. After all, you cannot be a white savior without actually saving some people.
The second issue many viewers struggled with involved pacing. Lady Jessica is pregnant at the beginning of the movie, and somehow a massive amount of politics, cultural change, and planetary travel often by foot, riding animals, or atop huge, slow-moving desert machines takes place in less time than it takes to give birth to a child sired by a now deceased father. The identity of this daughter is teased during the film in much the same way as Zendaya’s Chani was teased at the end of the first film, in a not-so-veiled attempt to push for a third film. Furthermore, filmgoers familiar with the original books noted that the movie ends in a different place than they would have expected with a cliffhanger that begs for a Dune: Part Three to be greenlit. Aside from a long pregnancy that may or may not work, much of this problem hinges on having read the books, which is not necessarily the case for all viewers.
The majority of the film’s issues get smoothed out, however, when you consider the quality of the presentation. Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts did acrobatics to make a compelling film of what is often described as the boring half of the first Dune book, and Villeneuve’s direction did not assume any quarter would be given for a beloved franchise with a big budget. The actors did their Little Drummer Boy best, as if this was their last chance to be noticed and to be loved, and depending on where primary filming fits on the timeline of the writer’s strike, this may have been a real worry. All of this provides texture that you do not find in every film, bringing pleasure with every scene in a way that is similar in kind if not in degree to all-time television greats like The Wire and Twin Peaks.
For those interested in exploring Dune: Part Two further, Lowell Ledger writers Justin Tiemeyer and Bill Lee cover all of these topics and more in a podcast recorded on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 titled “Worth the Popcorn: Movie Review - Dune: Part Two.” This podcast and a number of other great previews, interviews, and reviews are available courtesy of the new Lowell Ledger website at https://www.lowellledger.org/podcasts.
