Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Lea Seydoux and Charlotte Rampling
Distributor: Warner Bros
Runtime: 166 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2024
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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This science fiction film is a sequel to Dune which screened in 2021. It is the second of a two-part adaptation of the original 1965 novel of the same name, authored by Frank Herbert.
The political and social-scientific features of Herbert’s work is known as the ‘Dune Universe’. They occur thousands of years in humanity’s future when all AI, computers, and thinking machines are banned. Vital to the survival of the universe is a harsh desert planet, Arrakis, known as Dune, and it is the only known source of a valuable substance, which is necessary for human survival. Any possession of a computer, or any machine that ‘thinks’, is punishable by death, and the survival liquid is the most precious substance in the Universe.
Villeneuve directs and is co-producer of the film, and the movie continues the adventures of Paul Atreides (Chalamet) who joins forces with Chani (Zendaya), his lover, and the Fremen people of the desert planet, Arrakis, to wage war against the enemy. Atriedis seeks revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family, and he wants to change a terrible future that only he himself can predict. In this sequel, nine actors reprise their original role, and four new members join the cast. Principal photography was in Abu Dhabi, Budapest, Italy and Jordan, and production work occurred back-to-back with the 2021 film. A special action sequence shows Atriedes riding a sand-worm into battle. Such scenes cement this film’s claim to be a sophisticated and arresting ‘fantasy adventure’ movie.
PART TWO is very much an action movie. The planet, Arrakis, is the only planet where the survival substance exists, but it is difficult to find because of the giant sand-worms who guard it. Control of Arrakis, and the production of the survival liquid, become the centre points of millennia-long conflicts across the series. PART TWO addresses the politics of humanity as distinct from the future of technology that human beings might otherwise adopt. The de-emphasis on technology highlights the relevance of being human and what is necessary for humans to survive in a world without technical aids. Such an emphasis gives the movie strong contemporary relevance. The Dune Universe is also a spiritual melting pot of inclusivity. It incorporates a variety of religious belief systems, that embraces Catholicism, Judaism and Hinduism.
The movie is technically brilliant, thematically challenging, and addresses the emotional complexity of its key characters. It is an impressive fantasy sequel, but its action is often brutal which necessarily restricts age-appeal. The stature of the Dune Universe rivals the complexity of other fictional works such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. The film tackles the complexity of Atreides, by painting him as a person subject to a lust for power, and human desire, and his wanting vengeance expresses a dark side that is pointedly anti-hero.
Epic battles, and giant sand-worms make this film’s fantasy-world-of-action a compelling depiction of the imaginative force of Villeneuve’s direction. Overall, this is a fantasy-adventure movie that is a very impressive sequel, that forcefully anticipates a “Holy War” ahead.
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