“Dune: Part Two” is Beautifully Languid Magnum Opus [Review]

It’s been nearly two and a half years since writer/director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” released to strong acclaim from both audiences and critics (I gave it one of my highest ratings I’ve given any film in a long while—a 9.5 out of 10). “Dune: Part 2” is mostly worth the wait.

“Dune” as a literary series remains one of the classic fiction works of all time, alongside Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation,” and J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” As such, it has long been espoused as one of those “impossible to translate to the screen” properties. It’d been tried twice before- once by David Lynch in 1984, and then again in 2000 by the Sci Fi channel (yes, so long ago it was before the insipid name change to SYFY). While the 1984 version is a classic in its own right (at least for those who embrace the particular Lynchian aesthetic), and the 2000 one was more faithful in some areas, but ran off the rails in all others.

Part of the challenge with “Dune” is that it’s a sweeping epic; one of politics and plans within plans, and of multi-generational conflicts. When you have a novel that is full of internal character monologues and backstory, it’s hard to find a way to adapt that to a screen that’s not a mountain of exposition. Villeneuve has made the choice to let his story breathe, but also not to spoon-feed the audience with that exposition—he just lets the story unroll, and the audience who has read the books will already know what’s going on behind the curtain, and the rest of the audience can just choose to go along with it, or not (in which case, they’re likely to be wildly confused).

In many cases, audiences and critics will meet with derision the use of voiceovers (consider how many people prefer the “Blade Runner” versions without voiceover to the ones that omit it, and its use in the aforementioned ’84 version of Dune. Here, as in Villeneuve’s first installment, there is no voiceover, and, for the most part, no explanation, given that the characters themselves already know the reasons, have no natural reason to delve into things. You can tell outright when audiences watched the first film who hadn’t read the book when one heard muttering about why a science fiction series would not use laser weapons in infantry combat (the reason, of course, being that if a laser hits one of the personal shield generators, the result is something akin to a low-yield nuclear explosion).

Villeneuve has proven himself once again to be a master of best-in-class production design and quality. His works can easily stand alongside anything Ridley Scott puts out. As such, seeing the sheer scope and vastness of the planet Arrakis on the largest and best screen with the best sound you can find will not disappoint anyone. The vast bulk of films do perfectly well on our large-screen home televisions, and the “need” to see them in a theater is strictly an element of personal preference. However, this is one of those communal times when coming together to watch the story unfold is worth the effort.

It would be risking spoilers to speak too much about how far the story goes into the novels, I will refrain from delving into the particulars beyond what is seen in the trailer. With the fall of House Atreides, the Harkonnens have returned to power on Arrakis. They are harried at every turn by Paul (Timotheé Chalamet) and the Fremen, who are seeking to disrupt spice production to the point that the Emperor will have no choice but to come and deal with the situation directly.

“Part Two,” as with the first installment, does trim various plot lines and adjusts character moments. Though in the end, the threads come together in a relatively tidy denouement. If your particular taste is in for wall-to-wall quick-hitting action and to have everything explained on screen, you may well find that “Part Two” isn’t your cup of tea. That’s alright- the books themselves aren’t the cat’s meow for many readers. But if you are one to enjoy some serious battles alongside introspective desert vistas where characters talk quietly on the tops of sand dunes, then you will definitely be adding “Dune: Part Two” to your list of classic films.

“Dune: Part Two” releases in theaters galaxy-wide on March 1st. It has a running time of two hours and forty-six minutes.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.