“Dune 2” Review: Spectacle’s Upgraded Sequel

Dune 2 expands its scope while sacrificing none of its thematic depth.

In world, narrative, theme, cinematography — listen, I’ll save you the trouble, and myself the typing: in every cinematic aspect, Dune 2 is an evolution of its predecessor. After viewing the first of the duo-logy, one might expect this to be an impossibility. The original Dune was so epic in scope it became a cultural moment. Bombast and spectacle is inscribed in Dune’s very DNA, which is almost ironic for how unfocused the film is on aligning with typical characteristics of the sci-fi and fantasy genres established by the archetypal likes of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. In fact, Dune 2 starts to delve even greater into the complicated themes of religious skepticism, belief as a tool within a theocracy, fanaticism, and other subversions of the typical Sci-Fi tropes. Also subversive in tone, Dune 2’s script is delightfully witty, while never overwhelming the political logistics crucial to the film’s developments and entertainment, or the emotional core at its center. Paul and Chanai’s relationship is perhaps the only understated element of this film, and it’s that noticeable gentleness, the jarring intimacy in their close-up heavy conversations that sell the connection just as much as Timothee and Zendaya do with stellar performances. Dune 2 is an evolution of the first, a realization of all the potential its predecessor established. In a world of static Sci-Fi, Dune 2 impresses precisely for challenging the mold on a scale we’ve never seen, while still maintaining the most celebrated aspects of the genre.

Dune 2 opens on an excellently choreographed action scene with vibrant coloring, impressive visual stunts, stellar use of the landscape in its cinematography, and effortless worldbuilding that immediately expands Arrakis and this universe beyond previous understanding. Immediately, Dune 2 wastes no time in getting to the story or the spectacle. This storytelling efficiency will soon become be a recognizable pattern. Paul and Jessica Atreides are aligned with the Fremen against House Karkonnen, the evil spice consumers previously in control of all spice control on Arrakis until House Atreides was “promoted” to controlling spice production. This was a ruse by the emperor, whose apparent kindness was, in reality, an effort to wipe out the two houses most likely to overpower him. The previous film ended on what many saw as a cliffhanger that left Dune as an incomplete story. While I have personal gripes with this critique for the way it devalues the work being done by the writers to develop an interesting story in a “part one” format, there is no doubt that Dune 2 is the original’s potential realized. Despite expanding in scope and runtime, Dune 2 is shockingly easy to follow. For whatever reason, whether it be the grace of a predecessor negating the need for heavy exposition, stellar pacing, or a script whose strengths lie in organic worldbuilding, this plot is undoubtedly easier and more exciting to follow than the previous film’s efforts.

And what a captivating plot this is. For such a grand scale, Dune 2 manages to overwhelm in only the best of ways: through visual spectacle instead of narrative fluff. While lengthy, it never feels as though a scene is wasting time, trotting along in intergalactic politics with languages the audience doesn’t understand, and quite frankly, doesn’t care enough to try to. While other sci-fi films struggle to translate the thrill of a dogfight in space to the cold, desolate rooms of a planet’s throne room, Dune 2’s world building, characters, and themes are well enough established and developed to remain interesting in and of themselves. The plot’s constant dynamism on top of this seamless pairing between themes and organic world building is what keeps audiences returning to Arrakis, with spectacle following dense political turmoil, followed by more spectacle, and so on and so forth. The result is a story with the epic fist pumping moments of Return of the Jedi paired with the subversive social critique fit for an Alan Moore piece. As Paul transitions from nervous warrior to Fremen king, his mother contorts into religious zealot, both of now representations of false prophets in a constructed war. The thrilling joy of Paul Atreides performing a spinning dive kick also applies to his intimidatingly domineering speeches later in the film. He is a realized character with thematic and narrative motivation to change as drastically as he does, and that is just one member in a cast of complete, wholly developed warriors, kings, and emperors that express a number of typical sci-fi themes in a subversive manner. Meaning, the resulting relationships are incredibly effective at establishing an emotional core for a movie so seemingly grand that it’s at risk of bypassing the small touches of human intimacy. Goosebump inducing in the moment, thought provoking for the days following; Dune 2’s screenplay is dense in world building and theme in a way most blockbuster films nowadays simply do not care to develop, while simultaneously entertaining with balanced humor and nuanced characters.

This makes for a tone that most Sci-Fi films, and action blockbusters in general, are missing in the modern cinematic landscape: Dune 2 is utterly in love with itself in the best way possible. Star Wars may tease itself in vain attempts at excusing poor, childish writing, but Dune wants to be taken seriously. It may be a “space movie for kids,” but that doesn’t mean a sand worm cannot generate a grotesque fear in the viewer’s stomach. That doesn’t mean significant actions are not given the proper spectacle to be made effective. That certainly doesn’t mean that moments of character depth are replaced with “witty” comedy, that fan service predominates logical storytelling, and that characters are refused the chance to feel wholly dimensional instead of prop pieces to insert for immediate audience attention. There are intricate world details that only the most passionate of creators would think to include, and they’re all captured with an absolutely breathtaking cinematic style. Greg Fraiser again impresses in the Sci-Fi world with his sense of scale. Unafraid to present the alien as realistic, Fraiser’s camera will have a microscopic Timothee Chalamet’s screen presence being swallowed by inconceivably massive spice collectors or life threatening organisms. The desert isn’t a safe place to live, and the camera reinforces that just as much as the narrative by showcasing the very real terror in the spectacular reaches of Sci-Fi.

The film continues to make an utterly immersive viewing experience with other cinematic elements, such as the aforementioned use of landscape shots, as well as silhouettes specifically. While part of me wishes the film did breach Arrakis’ atmosphere, the brief moments it does I was immediately missing the home planet’s glowing orange sun, the Fremen’s steel blue eyes, the sunray’s cascading across miles of waves of sand. Fraiser’s use of the landscape aligns with his sense of scale to create a world that feels truly lived in. While The Harkonnen’s black and white hell-scape of a planet only made me want more Sci-Fi magic, Arrakis has the depth to maintain a story as grand as this, and the production behind the planet made certain that was delivered on screen.

Speaking further on the Harkonnen’s, Austin Butler’s performance was as silly as it was genuinely terrifying. Timothee Chalamet’s entire character arc can be glimpsed from how he carries himself alone. Zendaya brings the heart and acts as the emotional anchor to the film that makes the comedy feel natural instead of forced, the love feel endearing instead of constructed. While part of me wishes we saw more of Butler’s character, who I felt could have been positioned more equally as a direct rival to Paul to make for a greater conflict for the film’s runtime. However, that’s a nitpick in a nearly two hour and forty-five minute screenplay that impresses, intrigues, and confuses just perfectly to keep the viewer engaged for the entirety of its runtime.

There’s passion in this project. It’s clear in the performances, it’s made evident in the direction, it’s crystalized in the production. In other words, it is everything that modern science fiction is not. Star Wars is stagnant, Star Trek is seemingly dead in the water, and The Creator had the storytelling chops of a non-AI toddler. Dune 2 provides hope in what has been a bleak cinematic landscape for far too long.