When Denis Villenueve’s remake of Dunedebuted in 2021, it was extensively praised for its cinematography and grand-scale imaginative and prescient. But it surely additionally featured a fancy story not helped by the truth that Villenueve had cut up the unique e-book into two elements. Dune: Half Twohas lastly arrived, and with it brings each the nice and unhealthy of the primary movie.
Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), having survived the assault by the Home Harkonnen, are actually embedded with the native Fremen within the huge desert on the planet Arrakis. Some Fremen, together with Chani (Zendaya), are suspicious of the newcomers, however Stilgar (Javier Bardem) is satisfied that Paul is the long-prophesied messiah, viewing all the pieces he does — even renouncing the concept that he’s the messiah — as worthy of adulation.
Half Two additionally introduces a bunch of latest characters, together with the aged Emperor (Christopher Walken); his doting daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh); Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), the formidable nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård); and Woman Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux), a scheming member of the highly-religious Bene Gesserit. All of those individuals and extra play an element in both serving to or hurting Paul’s rise to energy.
There isn’t a argument that Villenueve is aware of methods to create a visually-stunning movie, even one that’s as CGI-heavy as this. He and cinematographer Greig Fraser (who received an Oscar for Dune: Half One) convey out all of the methods this time round, showcasing a panorama that would in any other case be monotonous in myriad fascinating methods. A swap to black-and-white makes a mid-film combat sequence pop, and scenes with a whole lot or hundreds of individuals in them really feel appropriately epic.
However as soon as once more, all of that visible splendor is in service of a narrative that’s lower than enthralling. Though the practically three-hour movie would appear to present Villenueve and returning co-writer Jon Spaihts sufficient time to correctly lay out the plot, they nonetheless select to skip over seemingly key elements of sure characters’ arcs. That is very true of the brand new characters, most of whom fail to make an impression, and even those that do are caught with one-note journeys.
This appears to be as a result of Villenueve is extra fascinated about organising future Dune films than coping with the one at hand. For many who might not know, Frank Herbert wrote six Dune books (with 18 extra written by his son after his demise), so a full-blown Dune Cinematic Universe is feasible. There are quite a lot of allusions to issues that may come sooner or later, together with the lifetime of Paul’s unborn sister (seen in flash-forward kind as Anya Taylor-Pleasure), however they arrive on the expense of understanding the here-and-now, most notably Paul’s transition to a god-like determine.
Regardless of the story lack, Chalamet is a compelling presence within the lead function, ably demonstrating why he’s turn out to be one of many go-to younger actors in Hollywood. The identical goes for Zendaya, who lastly will get an opportunity to shine after barely showing within the first movie. Butler goes over-the-top in a great way for his function, however Pugh is given next-to-nothing to do, a disgrace for somebody together with her expertise. Bardem, Ferguson, and Josh Brolin be sure that the older adults come off effectively, too.
There isn’t a scarcity of sights and sounds to wow the senses in Dune: Half Two; The big sandworms alone are well worth the value of admission. However when the accompanying story turns into borderline incomprehensible, that visible feast winds up feeling hole.
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Dune: Half Two opens in theaters on March 1.
