I have never seen
David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Dune, despite the fact that it is, by
some accounts, a fun watch because of how spectacularly weird and bad it is. It
has been sitting in one of my streaming service queues for quite a while now,
gathering imaginary digital dust, and whenever I get some free time I just
can’t find myself ready to commit to 137 minutes of silliness. Dune: Part
Two was a slightly different beast—sure, it may be a whole 18 minutes
longer, but I found 2021’s Part One to be exceptional. And even though
Denis Villeneuve’s latest adaptation may have taken up a good chunk of my
evening I gotta say—I loved every minute of it.
Dune: Part Two Is, in a word, big.
The scope, the actors, the soundtrack… everything that Part One did this
one does bigger, battering each of my senses into submission until there was
nothing left in my life except the desert planet of Arrakis, giant Diet Coke
and tub of popcorn at my side not withstanding. Denis Villeneuve and
cinematographer Greig Fraser (who won an Academy Award for his work in the
first installment) instill every frame with sheer awe, their knack for finding
the perfect angle never failing to bring forth the beauty and horror of Frank
Herbert’s universe (the Harkonnen world of Geidi Prime is particularly striking
with its black-and-white eeriness).
It's a dense and daunting universe, to be
sure. David Lynch's previous attempt at adapting the novel in 1984 famously
included a glossary of terms along with each ticket, the better to help
audiences understand what the heck was happening and what those silly made-up
words meant. Dune: Part Two feels significantly easier to follow, even
in comparison to Part One, although I do recommend rewatching this
previous installment first if you have another two and a half hours to burn (I
caught a showing of Part Two with closed captioning, which also helped
immensely).
The stacked cast is a who’s-who of Hollywood
royalty and gen-z wunderkinds, and most of them have interesting material to
work with (poor Dave Bautista is not one of them, as he once again only gets to
be angry to varying degrees and Florence Pugh doesn’t have much to do) in this
cautionary tale of revenge, love, and the dangers of religious extremism. The
costumes are magnificent, the CGI is breathtaking, and the unusual but
excellent score by Hans Zimmer (who also won an Oscar for his work on Part
One) turns the entire experience up to eleven. Honestly I’m having a hard
time finding anything interesting to talk about with Dune: Part Two
that’s not just a boring checklist of things done well done. Watching it on the
big screen is a transcendent experience that must be seen to be believed: This
is why we go to the movies. Go see Dune: Part Two on the big screen
before it’s gone.
Dune: Part Two is now playing
exclusively in theaters.
This review was first published in the
Keizertimes on March 8th, 2024. Visit at www.keizertimes.com.
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