Dune: Part 2 (2024) ***** Warning – Contains Spoilers for “Dune: Part 1”

 

It's kind of hard to believe that there was ever any question that Denis Villeneuve would get to complete his film adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic novel Dune. But that's how it was. Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers committed enough money for Villeneuve to make Part 1, and part 2 was contingent on how that went. I suppose it's understandable, considering how some previous attempts at a Dune adaptation have gone. Fortunately, Villeneuve's “Dune”, released in 2021, was a masterpiece and a critical and commercial success.

“Part 2” picks up right where the first film left off. Paul and his mother Jessica have joined the Fremen in the desert. The Harkonnens have retaken Arrakis and control of spice production. Paul and the Fremen become guerrilla fighters, sabotaging the spice harvesters at every opportunity.

Where "Dune: Part 1" was slow-moving, spending a lot of time world-building, introducing us to the Bene Gesserit, the Great Families, the Fremen, and so forth, “Part 2” allows us to revel in that world. There is more action, and the story builds rapidly. We see romance bud between Paul and Chani. We also eventually see Paul morph from the hero into more of an anti-hero, as he gains his full prescient skills and begins to seek revenge, power, and even godhood. “Part 2” takes us through the end of Herbert's first novel.

Dune, the novel, is an amazing book, but as Herbert's series continues, the books start to become less and less compelling. I think the reason is that as Paul becomes a less and less sympathetic character, Herbert fails to give us another character to identify with. Director Denis Villeneuve seems to be angling to do something different with his series, giving Chani a more substantial role than she has in the book. Perhaps he hopes to give her a bigger role in a sequel.

Whether Villeneuve gets to make another Dune movie or not, he has done something special here, finally giving the first and best Dune novel the film adaptation it deserves.

5 stars out of 5