Note: This review contains spoilers.
“DUNE: Part Two,” a film by award-winning Director/Writer/Producer Denis Villeneuve, follows the six-time Academy Award-winning 2021 film “DUNE,” and is based upon Frank Herbert’s novel. The stellar cast includes many Oscar-nominees and winners.
Actor Christopher Walken, who plays the key role of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, tells us that “This film is about power, about families, vengeance, rivalries. And love, it’s a love story.”
This chapter begins shortly after the end of “DUNE,” and is set thousands of years in the future on the remote planet Arrakis — mostly in a vast desert where the Fremen people must somehow survive despite a near-complete lack of water.
In stark contrast is the life enjoyed by the ruthlessly oppressive Harkonnen, “a manifestation of corruption, violence and greed,” who dispatch heavily armed, flying machines to plunder precious spice in the desert, and face fierce opposition from the Fremen people.
This is a dark, brutal story of revenge and retribution, set in a truly inhospitable, violent world and centered around Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), who patiently and methodically seeks revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. “Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.” The conflict has been raging on for centuries. The stakes could not be higher, as the fate of not only this world but others hangs in the balance.
Villeneuve tells us that this chapter is about “the integration of Paul and his mother, Jessica, into the Fremen culture, into the Fremen tribes.” Paul falls in love, as he begins a campaign against the oppressors and foresees a holy war. “Paul is torn between his desire of vengeance and the fact that he has a strong intuition that the path he is on could bring him to catastrophe; that by trying to avenge his father, he could bring his friends, the Fremen, chaos and war.”
The fighting and battle scenes are brutally realistic. According to Denis Villeneuve, “Roger Yuan … has tremendous knowledge of all different kinds of fighting and combat. His choreography defines the different ways of fighting for the Fremen, the Harkonnens, the Atreides and the Sardaukar. Everybody has their own way of using swords or daggers, and Roger was able to help us define what the combat shields are and the very precise way of fighting with them.”
The world of “DUNE” has been meticulously crafted for unquestionable realism, shot 100% for IMAX and with incredible special effects. “We made so much effort to bring all the tiny details of the desert and what it is to be walking on Arrakis.”
It is a world in which the natural and technological blend together seamlessly. In experimental, especially complex and realistic sequences, gigantic creatures called sandworms — upon which individual Fremen ride over vast distances, are summoned from the depths of the desert by devices that rhythmically pound the sand. “For a sequence with a baby sandworm … to see the worm traveling under the sand, we decided to do it for real, and Gerd (SFX supervisor Gerd Nefzer) used a very sophisticated tracking system with carpets under the sand that created the illusion that the worm was traveling under the sand. He also had to create the worm, creating a platform on gimbals that were designed to bring the specific movement I was looking for. It was quite tricky.”
Hans Zimmer orchestrated the exquisite musical score. “Hans and I have shared the same ion, the same history with the book from when we were young. … Hans started to build instruments again, do research, go deeper into the world of the Harkonnens. … I wanted him to write something unforgettable for Chani. A love theme… I wanted something heartbreaking, and the most beautiful love theme ever written, and honestly I think he did it.”
“DUNE: Part Two” is a film that you must see in a large, state-of-the-art IMAX theater, enveloped in immersive sound to truly experience the grandeur, epic scale and proportions of the fantasy world of “DUNE.” It is in theaters now. To see the official movie trailer, visit: https://www.dunemovie.net.
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