My Rating: 5/5

Official Information:
Release Date: March 1, 2024
Box Office: $626.21 Million
Rating: 8.8/10 (IMDb) 93% (RT)
Audience: Teens and Adults, Rated PG-13 for violence
Cast: Timothee Chalamet (Paul Atreides) Rebecca Ferguson (Jessica Atreides) Zendaya (Chani) Christopher Walken (The Emperor) Stellan Skasgard (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen) Austin Butler (Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen) Florence Pugh (Princess Irulan) Josh Brolin (Gurney)

Dune: Part Two is an incredible sequel that improves on the original in almost every way, with more action, more romance, and more characters. Despite having a runtime nearing 3 hours, it doesn’t drag.

Adapting the second half of the Dune novel, it sees Paul Atreides living among the native Fremen and fighting with them against the Harkonnen family. Dune: Part Two is breaking box office records, and if you give it a watch, it isn’t hard to see why.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Dune: Part Two is an awesome experience on the big screen. Hearing the excellently composed soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and the massive explosions through the theater’s surround-sound is unforgettable.

The sequel to the 2021 film, Dune: Part One, expands the story’s scope greatly. It introduces Christopher Walken as The Emperor, along with Florence Pugh, as his daughter, Irulan. Both are great actors, making the new subplot one of the most enjoyable in the story. The film opens with the princess speculating that Paul Atreides is still alive, setting up the involvement of the empire in the story (it’ll be important later!)

Next, we jump back to the (supposedly) last remaining members of House Atreides. It’s not long until we jump into the action ( in contrast to the exposition-heavy Part 1). Of all the characters, Paul Atreides has changed the most from the first film. We see him fighting alongside the Fremen, completely devoted to the idea of actually becoming Fremen. We see him and Chani (played by Zendaya), destroy the spice harvesters his own family was operating not so long ago.

The most interesting character in my opinion, however, is Lady Jessica. Played by the amazing Rebecca Ferguson (who you’ve probably recognized from the Mission: Impossible films), Jessica’s personality is made pretty clear by the beginning of the film. While Paul is eager to attack the Harkonnens, she seems reluctant to get revenge. However, she is confident Paul is the prophesied Messiah and would do anything to protect her son (who I recently learned is only 15 in the story, despite Timothee Chalamet currently being 28).

But when Jessica drinks the sandworm poison, everything changes. She finds herself initiated as a “Reverend Mother” and is determined to do anything to prove that her son truly is the Messiah. She goes from a soft-spoken mother to a terrifyingly ambitious woman (all while pregnant, too). Meanwhile, Paul lives among the Fremen, not as a leader, but as a native. He falls in love with Chani, learns the Fremen language, masters the sandwalk, and eventually learns to ride the desert’s massive sandword, which is probably one of the most awesome moments in all of cinema!

However, it’s not all fun and games for the Atreides and the Fremen. Baron Harkonnen replaces his nephew (played by David Bautista) with another heir, Feyd-Rautha (played by Austin Butler), a sociopathic killer.

Meanwhile, back on Arrakis, Jessica and Paul part ways. Jessica travels to the South of Arrakis to convert the rest of the Fremen into believing in her son, while Paul stays in the North, believing that his involvement will cause a destructive war after receiving a vision. It’s at this point of the film where Gurney is revealed to have survived the attack in the previous film. Josh Brolin is a great actor and I was happy to see him rejoin the cast. In addition, his connections with Paul’s late father come to be incredibly valuable as he leads Paul to his family’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, a turning point in the fight against the Harkonnens.

A big part of Dune deals with prophecy. As made clear in the first film, the Bene Gesserit (the religious league Jessica belongs to) has been manipulating politics for centuries, attempting to produce a Messiah. However, Chani has an interesting suspicion: The prophecy isn’t religious, and the fact that it’s being “fulfilled” is because of the Bene Gesserit’s manipulation. It’s not exactly confirmed whether or not there’s a divine presence, but I found the idea of a fabricated prophecy intriguing, and really demonstrates just how powerful the Bene Gesserit are, and how powerful religion can be in the real world.

Partially because of her devotion to her religion, and probably due in large to the effects of the poison, Lady Jessica manipulates Paul into drinking the worm’s poison. After a near-death experience, Paul finds himself “enlightened”, seeing visions of the past and future, and revealing the ultimate twist: Lady Jessica is the daughter of Baron Harkonnen. I did not see this coming, and it added even more tension as the film leads up to an ultimate showdown.

The finale of Dune: Part Two ties together the various plot lines beautifully, and it’s insanely action-packed too. After recovering from the poison, Paul declares himself Messiah, and thousands of Fremen unsheath their sacred knives. The film doesn’t make this clear, but in the books, the knives cannot be re-sheathed until the owner has killed someone with it, making this moment extremely powerful. The entire planet of Arakkis has vowed to spill Harkonnen blood or die trying.

In the last Act, the Harkonnens are defeated. I was expecting Paul to eliminate the empire in the finale, but instead, he pulled a wild move: Take over the empire instead. Irulan gives her hand in marriage in exchange for her father’s life, making Paul Atreides the heir to the known universe. The film ends pretty suddenly, with the rest of the royal houses arriving on Arrakis as the Holy War begins.

Overall, I LOVED Dune: Part Two. It was the perfect sequel, and gave us some great moments with great payoff, while still leaving room for a third installment. The cast was great, especially Rebecca Ferguson in my opinion, and the action sequences were thrilling. Overall, 5/5!