"Dune: Part Two" is Triumphant Yet Timid

Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster is revolutionary in some regards and reluctant in others

A direct continuation of its predecessor, Dune: Part Two is the climatic and consequential sequel to director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel. The duology stands out as a redirection of the modern blockbuster, with Villeuneuve’s monumental ambition presented at an inhuman scale, taking full advantage of our contemporary storytelling technologies to examine both the extreme and the intimate. 

Villeneuve’s expertise lies in his ability to translate an expansive world into a coherent linear plotline, compacting the richness and density of a fictional history into a narrative that satisfies both those accustomed to a traditional blockbuster and those craving an innovative endeavor. Villeneuve’s visual aesthetics capture the cold and calculated mechanisms of empire, rigid and suffocating, contrasting them to the internal warmth of a culture resisting subjugation, while still depicting a congruent relationship between the two. His technical style thrives in eerie tranquility, and, as in Dune: Part One, the film finds its greatest success when its characters echo this tranquility or exist in direct juxtaposition to it. 

However, in Dune: Part Two, an increased tendency towards technical display limits the impact of the characters from the first installment. The incomplete nature of the Part One renders many of the characters morally ambiguous; their interpersonal relationships are never flattened for the sake of highlighting Villeneuve’s technical achievement. But Part Two often discards this interiority to prioritize the choreography of stunning visuals, and the characters regularly feel reduced to instruments in an overbearing didactic exercise. 

The characters have compelling internal conflicts, but their primary purpose seems to be to guide the audience to simplistic conclusions; the actors seem to operate under unnecessary constraint in service of Villeneuve’s goal of instructing the audience in morality. Chani (Zendaya) is positioned as a moral guide for the viewer to track Paul’s (Timothee Chalamet) change, as if Villeneuve does not trust us to understand a character’s arc without a surrogate to do the work for us. 

Because Dune: Part Two feels restrained by a moral and narrative linearity, it cannot take full advantage of the scope of the spectacle it is. The frequent scenes addressing Fremen spirituality refuse to engage with the spectacle that the material demands, preventing the opportunity to address cultural complexity and rendering these scenes pragmatic rather than mystical. 

Spirituality is not the only facet of Fremen identity that is paired down in an effort to maximize appeal. The Fremen, a reflection of Middle-Eastern cultures, speak an Arabic-inspired langage and have been engaged in a protracted struggle against imperial forces. Yet Villeneueve acknowledges these influences at a purely aesthetic level, ignoring the layers of Herbert’s original socio-political context.  

Writer Siddaht Adlakha identifies in his review that words like “jihad” and “martyr,” present in the original novel, are omitted entirely from the film. He writes, “By downplaying his inspirations in this specific way, while keeping their essence intact… the resultant film is Arab and Islamic in its superficial optics, but overlaid with a Western political viewpoint.” Villeneuve maintains the aesthetics of a revolutionary history but forgoes any aspects that would present as challenging to the Western status quo, resulting in a politically agnostic film when compared to its source material. 

While Dune: Part Two is revolutionary in its presentation, it is timid in its politics and domineering in its morals. The expanse of Dune: Part Two cowers when it comes time to grant the audience agency, its scale coming at the expense of moral complexity or insurgence. 

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

Dune: Part Two was released on March 1, 2024 and is currently showing in US theaters.