DUNE: PART TWO

LOVE STORY UNFOLDS AS EPIC WAR OF THE PLANETS FAST APPROACHES

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

One life has come to an end and another life has begun for Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two.

The House of Atreides has been destroyed with the survivors, Paul, the heir apparent, and his mother, Jessica, finding survival in the desert world of the Fremen people on Arrakis.  Much talk occurs between a small group of Fremen, led by Stilgar, practicing desert survival techniques for a much anticipated battle with the House of Harkonnen.

Timothee Chalamet reprises his role as Paul Atreides, the leading protagonist, and develops the character throughout the film, incrementally earning the trusts of his desert companions and becoming the mythical character of prophecy he is believed to be.

Rebecca Ferguson plays Jessica again, gradually giving up day to day stewardship of her son. Jessica is persuaded to become the Reverend Mother, and this decision leads into a developing story in a subplot, while Atreides finds companionship with Chani, played by Zendaya.

Director Denis Villeneuve explores the love interest while simultaneously building tension for the battle scenes.

The narrative is interrupted by desert militia attacks on the spice harvesters. These small skirmishes introduce the unique fighting techniques and military equipment to be used in a future battle with the House of Harkonnen.

The second film in a series again develops material for a sequel while maintaining the existing film’s storyline.

Chalamet and Zendaya share a lot of screen time. And the actors are cast well together as the individual characters develop simultaneously with the love relationship. Chani is an independent desert fighter from whom Paul learns a bit better technique. And coincidently, Chani and Paul fall in love in the process.

Villeneuve maintains Paul as almost subordinate to Chani and the Fremen people as he learns to survive in the desert from them. But similarly to the original film, Paul is a quick learner, and eventually exceeds all expectations in achieving the training milestones.

Zendaya creates a three dimensional character that the audience can connect with before having to step back a bit as Chalamet’s character becomes more and more the leading protagonist figure fulfilling the prophecy.

Several characters in the previous film have been killed off in the sweeping ending of the first installment in this obvious film franchise. But Villeneuve brings in replacement characters to maintain an ensemble cast for the sequel film.

Austin Butler has a recuring presence in the film as Feyd-Rautha. Butler does a good job of breaking the type-cast as a rock and roll star to play Feyd-Rautha.

Butler develops a special voice again to play the character, while the hair and make-up department and stage lighting alter his appearance just enough not to resemble his previous starring character.

Feyd-Rautha has been groomed to replace his father. The film’s antagonist gradually shows his skills as a fighter and the internal desire to do so a bit earlier than expected. Butler creates a passive aggressive character waiting for his time to shine, while also hiding a lot of hubris that eventually bubbles to the surface.

And Florence Pugh makes an appearance as Princess Irulan, but Villeneuve seems to only introduce the character for further development in Dune: Part Three. Similarly, Lea Seydoux as Lady Margot Fenring, is limited to just a few scenes.

The film is compelled forward with the development of characters and relationships that all have a much more elaborate, yet untold, backstory.

Villeneuve applies an equally compelling layer of aesthetics with the rich gold and yellows and browns of the desert world, with ocean blue accents for the off-world motif. The dangerous isolation of the planet is almost immediately apparent with the tone and atmosphere created in part by the pleasing layer of aesthetics.

The film combines the epic sweep of historical dramas with the compelling fantasy of the science fiction genre in such a way as to make watching the sequel in a theater more than essential.

Hans Zimmer provides a score to push everything forward.

And, oh yeah, Paul Atreides does ride the sand worm, after a bit of practice and strength training in the desert.