The book series “Dune” might ring a bell to many different people, as it is one of the most renowned, best-selling science fiction books. Written by Frank Herbert in 1965, the book series inspired two different sets of movies to be filmed and released. The most recent addition to the series was released on March 1 under the title “Dune: Part Two,” with a runtime of 2 hours and 46 minutes, which is about 10 minutes longer than the 2021 “Dune.” Since its release, many people have raved about the film online, and after seeing it, I can agree with every good review.
Through this longer-in-length sequel, the film follows the main character, Paul Atreides, played by Timothée Chalamet, in a straight continuation from the end of the first movie. Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica, travel with a group of Fremen—the native people of the planet Arrakis. Paul has one motive throughout the whole movie: seek revenge on the people that destroyed his family. Within the group of Fremen, Paul meets Chani, played by Zendaya, whom he falls in love with. While on his journey with the Fremen and Chani, Paul starts to fall in line with a prophecy to become Lisan al Gaib—the Fremen’s “Voice from the Outer World” prophet—unfolding a whirlwind of mistakes, action and drama.
I’ve watched a lot of longer films in my movie-going experiences, including ones that are approaching 3 hours, like “Dune: Part Two.” And almost every time I’ve watched a movie of this length, it pays off. With this movie specifically, the writing was very well carried out, and there was nothing in the film that I thought could’ve been omitted. Every scene added to the story in some way.
There were a lot of very different scenes throughout this movie that tied together, which made the movie easier to understand. Any time there’s a made-up world, especially in sci-fi, it can be hard to understand everything. But even though there were a lot of scenes dealing with different people that inhabit Arrakis—ranging from the House of Corinno to the Fremen to the House of Harkonnen—all the separate storylines came together in the end. Personally, I love when there are different storylines in movies that connect in the end. It really pieces the story together so it doesn’t feel choppy or like there are multiple stories that don’t really make sense.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this film was the cinematics. Normally, this isn’t something that really draws in my attention or catches my eye, but with this movie, it did. Every scene was beautiful—showing the many different places of the desert planet Arrakis, from the orange and spiced desert plains to the inside of a tall black and white fighting ring. If a picture could have been taken of any scene at any time, it would’ve looked like a piece of art. Every scene was very striking in beauty, and it blew me away. I really appreciated the effect this film had on me because it’s not something that catches my eye very often, if ever.
The last big thing of this film that I really noticed was the acting. Every time I go to see a movie, I look at the acting. This time, I was blown away by the acting of Chalamet. Especially looking back on the first movie, his acting throughout is consistent and ties with the origin story he goes through. First, he starts out as a more timid teenage boy, and as the story goes on, it’s really shown how much his new life affects him, turning him into a loud and almost arrogant person. With both the writing and Chalamet’s acting, it’s evident that the change isn’t overnight, which is something I appreciate because it makes the story smoother. If Paul were to change on the flip of a dime, it wouldn’t have seemed real, and it would’ve been unattainable for him. Instead, everything he went through led him up to that point, causing him to change as drastically as he did.
After seeing and analyzing the film, I can really see why so many people on social media raved about the movie. I’ve barely seen any negative comments towards this movie, and there’s obviously a reason for that. Everything about this film is top tier, and the storylines are executed amazingly. I’d honestly recommend this movie to anyone, though it would be helpful to watch the first movie to get a better understanding. Once you’ve watched the first movie, go to the theaters to watch this action-packed sci-fi adventure with an engrossing story.
