Written by Denis Villeneuve And Jon Spaihts
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Paul: "I am Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis. The Hand of God be my witness, I am the Voice from the Outer World! I will lead you to PARADISE!"
Having watched both these movies days apart, I'm still not entirely as enamoured with this space saga as many others have been but I can admire the scale and ambition of this movie franchise.
From the previous movie, prophet Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) had managed to fall in with the Freman tribe and become allies with then in their quest to get back at those who betrayed their family. It was a quest that would inevitably bring out a much darker side to Paul.
Of course there was also the romance between Paul and Chani (Zendaya), the latter who was very much against prophecies and being controlled by destiny. I'll admit, it's a strong enough aspect of the movie with Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya giving it their best. However their romance also hit a major complication towards the end of this one.
When Chani wasn't brazenly defying destiny and disturbing customs, Paul found himself betrothed to Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Irulan was the daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and he was directly responsible for Paul's father being killed and House Atreides almost being taken off the map.
With Paul and Chani somewhat at odds, one of the strengths of this movie would be the furthest expansion of the Bene Gesserit. The Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling) conspired while both Princess Irulan and Lady Margot Fenring (Lea Seydoux) were revealed as members. Lady Jessica underwent her own ascension within the ranks and even Paul got subjected to his own ascension to boot.
Then there was House Harkonnen. They somewhat paid for their attempts to dismantle the Atreides. This movie saw both the Baron (Stellan Skarsgard) and his nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista) get taken down along with the odious Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). The latter character was a delightful addition, though surprisingly not as prominent as I thought he would. He does however manage to get a decent confrontation with Paul before his demise.
- Anya Taylor-Joy appeared briefly through visions as Paul's unborn sister, Alia. She would be born in 10,191 A.G.
- It was revealed that Jessica was the Baron's daughter, making Paul cousins with both Rabban and Feyd-Rautha. The latter seemed amused by that revelation.
- To complete this trilogy, we'll be getting Dune: Messiah by 2026 (or more likely, 2027)
- Chronology: Not long from where the first part of the movie left off.
I did slightly enjoy Dune: Part Two a little more than the first but I also found it overlong with certain parts almost dragging out too much. The new characters were interesting as was the way both Paul and Chani's relationship progressed and devolved throughout.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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