Dune: Part Two
In cinemas now
There was a time when Denis Villeneuve appeared to be the unexpected liberator of the blockbuster, a disruptor who, by way of uber-conceptual sci-fi films such as Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, had come to shake audiences out of their Disney-induced stupor. However, if the critical and commercial success of the first instalment of his adaptation of Frank Herbet’s notoriously epic novel was arguably the apotheosis of his career to date, its sequel might be the moment it flatlines.
Dune: Part Two commences where its predecessor ended, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his pregnant mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) immersing themself in the rituals of the Fremen people, with whom they intend to liberate Arrakis from the rule of House Harkonnen. As was the case in Dune, the moral epicentre of this film stems from the burgeoning messianic cult that surrounds Paul and how he chooses to resolve this burden.
Chalamet seamlessly carries the weight of his meaty role and noticeably grows in stature as Paul makes the difficult transition from paragon to anti-hero, while Ferguson is efficiently unsettling as Lady Jessica, whose arc also evolves drastically over the course of the film. Nonetheless, both are overshadowed by Zendaya, who continues to stake her claim for being the most compelling leading lady working in Hollywood today with her fierce performance as Chani, the Fremen warrior who seeks to dissuade Paul from assuming the mantle of Lisan al Gaib.
Of the franchise’s new cast members, Austin Butler is likely to garner the most attention for his turn as the psychotic Feyd-Rautha, the latest to come off of the Harkonnen conveyor belt of nasties. It’s a typically committed performance from the man whose method acting antics in Elvis are now the stuff of legend, but his character is part of the issue that is at the crux of Dune: Part Two.
This is because, while he is presented as a figure of substance (thanks in no small part to Villeneuve and Greig Fraser’s cool use of black and white infrared cameras) there is little else to suggest that he is anything other than the sort of disposable antagonist that you would expect to see in other big-budget fare.
It’s this sense of familiarity (albeit one that undeniably remains a visual and auditory spectacle to behold) that inhibits Dune: Part Two and ultimately makes it less satisfying than its forebear. While an increase in action is to be expected, particularly given the leisurely pace of what came before, it comes at the expense of the quasi-spiritual thematic that made the first film so daring. Here, the Near Eastern philosophies that inspired Herbet’s original work are a mere proxy for an intergalactic conflict that is at times barely distinguishable from genre bedfellows such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars.
Although I’ll still take Villeneuve’s brand of box office over anything else that’s currently on offer, it feels like the auteur has settled on being yet another franchise filmmaker, as evidenced by the fact that a third instalment is already in the works. I’ll be there for it, but my expectations will be lowered.
