Dune: Part Two
Dune Part: 2 was my most anticipated movie of the year and did not disappoint. It’s the best movie I have seen this year by far. I dare say it was almost perfect. Okay, maybe not perfect, but it was crazy good, to say the least. My favorite aspect of the movie was the world-building and deep lore segments. The first movie left me with so many questions. But this sequel genuinely feels like they answered many of them. Don’t get me wrong, I still have plenty more. Yet I feel satisfied as a viewer for the new information we got. But mainly, I’m excited to learn more.
To get movie-specific Dune: Part Two feels more like a coming-out party for Paul. As the main protagonist or antagonist depending on who you ask Paul’s rise was epic. It felt like he couldn’t miss in this movie and Stilgar was there to remind the whole movie. Seeing Paul rise to the occasion again and again did have me hyped I can’t lie.
The movie has a hero’s journey-type vibe with a little “chosen one” energy sprinkled on top. Yet you can tell that the plot is a lot deeper than Paul's storyline alone. Matter of fact you can tell it’s a lot deeper than these first two movies. I loved how fluent the cast rotation was for this movie. For the most part, they did a great job establishing new characters as we lose old ones. It makes the movie feel more alive.
One thing that I didn’t like about this movie was the big battles or war portions of the movie. It felt way too one-sided and seems to be a continued trend from the first film. The issue is that it makes all the preparations and conversations pointless. Granted, I don’t get tired of seeing the Freman pop up out of the ground ready to rumble. I wish there was some real pushback from the opposing sides. I don’t care how much prep time they have.
Let’s switch up the pace a little bit. I want to talk a little about the love interests. Something we were robbed of in the first movie. They killed it this go around. The newfound triangle between Paul, Chani, and Princess Irulan is going to be one for the ages. The reason is that we spent most of the movie seeing Paul and Chani boo love. While Princess Irulan was playing politics. Things are bound to get tricky with Paul’s newfound position. Plus his political union with the princess. Paul is playing a dangerous game if you ask me.
Zendaya’s portrayal of Chani was great. She not only grounded the movie but also stuck to her convictions regardless of what Paul had going on. This will set up some interesting conflicts in the future. Paul is going to have to make some tough decisions that are not so black-and-white. I just hope Chani will be around to help make them.
The future looks bright for Dune. Learning about the empire and their roles in the prophecy was poetic. Plus with talks of a holy war things are going to get interesting fast. I am excited to see what Paul can come up with to keep the power he never really wanted. But this movie in general was really good. They made it feel like one big puzzle where you don’t know what the image is going to be until the end. It feels like there’s still so much to discover which is why I gave it a 9/10 G-Files score.
Seeing Paul becoming one with the desert is one thing. But seeing him gain the trust of the people is a whole other thing. Timothée Chalamet's speech was incredible. This movie takes the necessary steps to fully flush out its characters good or bad. You expect to see Paul embrace the title of Muad'Dib. His pursuit of revenge, vengeance, or freedom from the powers at be. It makes sense. You don’t expect to be thrown into this chasm of politics, secret agendas, and visions of people not even born yet. This movie was amazing and I can’t wait for the next one to come out.
