ChiefMcMurphy’s review published on Letterboxd:
Yep, this is it, the pinnacle of cinema has arrived in the form of "Dune: Part Two". A monumental achievement from Villeneuve, Dune is like nothing I've seen in my whole life. I'm calling it right now; this will be the best movie of 2024 by far. Hell, it's even going in the history books as one of the best movies to ever exist. Just pure art elevated into its highest forms. The Sci-Fi genre has taken a turn never to come back; "Dune: Part Two" marks a before and after in the industry. I am just in absolute shock at how much I enjoyed this. My head can’t stop thinking and obsessing about the experience Dune made me live. For all 166 minutes, my soul left my body and reached Nirvana, and it only returned to my body after Zendaya stared directly into my eyes, feeling broken and betrayed.
How does one begin to describe this when every element is crafted with so much care? Honestly, all of the aspects of Dune worked in perfect harmony to create the single most overwhelming experience. This might just be the most astounding visual spectacle there is to date. The color palette in Dune is very unique. The settings in which this movie takes place are the most beautiful things I've seen in my entire life. The wide shots from Arrakis feel so realistic; I felt sand coming out of my mouth when the film ended. I can’t stress this enough, but literally every element from a visual standpoint was simply majestic. The explosions, the costume design of the characters, the most minuscule props and details that the Dune universe has just made me gasp for the entire time. Dune also has one of the most majestic black and white photography in the Harkonnen planet. The whole gladiator scene was truly epic. Like, how does Villeneuve come up with these ideas? From a visual standpoint, "Dune: Part Two" reaches a level of epicness in the genre that will be hard to beat for years to come.
Zimmer once again demonstrates massive talent with the score he delivered. I do believe the quality of the sound made this film go from extraordinary to perfection. There’s just a sense of elevated danger and adventure in the music while we get to experience one of the most epic battles in history. I felt my heart pumping faster with each ing minute. The cinematography combined with Zimmer’s score marks a monumental achievement in cinema.
There's something about the universe Denis has created that just needs to be praised. Part One sets the background for the universe, the characters, and their motivations. But Part Two, although it begins exactly where Part One ended, doesn't have an immediate payoff. It takes its time with each scene, developing even more the characters and introducing some new ones. It's the originality of the script that left me flabbergasted. It never feels rushed or slow, although some might say the first hour or so might be kind of slow. For me, I wasn’t looking for our characters to jump right into the action after. The pacing, for me, just feels right. The film is conscious of its long runtime, and I love that there's no jumping back and forth between characters in different locations. We have long sequences of the same character dealing with some problem, and it never feels like other characters are forgotten in the film. Every scene, every moment, every character is there for some very important reason, and everyone has its moment to shine since Villeneuve isn’t concerned with giving us the answers immediately.
Now this is where things get interesting. Paul Atreides Muad’Dib has one of the most glorious character developments in history and it's by far the best performance of Timothée Chalamet. Even the name changing for Paul says a lot about his development. He once belonged to House Atreides, then he becomes of the Fremen. At some point, he becomes the Messiah while finding out he is a Harkonnen, and finally, becomes the new emperor. Paul's journey to become the chosen one is absolutely amazing. The complexity of the story made his character arc distinguishable from every ing moment. For me, his character reached a certain level of epicness that as the audience, we sometimes struggle to understand his true motivations, and Chalamet makes sure we empathize with Paul but at the same time he makes us doubt his true motivations. There's a fine line with Paul believing he is truly the Lisan al Gaib and him wanting people to follow him although he is not sure he is the Messiah, just for putting an end to the war and seeking revenge for his family. He gets sick with power as the film progresses and more followers start to believe he is truly the chosen one, but it begs the question. Does his character truly believe he is the Messiah or is he just playing along so he'll fulfill his destiny? There are so many grey areas with Paul that make his character one of the most interesting to ever be written. Before I forget, him surfing a worm is fucking epic elevated to the maximum. Butler is as menacing as people are describing him. He might have little screen time, but what he does with Feyd-Rautha is truly scary. No emotion whatsoever from his expression, he is as psychotic as psychotic can be. He enjoys pain and suffering and has no concern for consequences whatsoever. For me, one of the best scenes in the entire film was Feyd-Rautha fighting to the death with Muad’Dib. Honestly, the hand-to-hand combat choreography was mesmerizing. I might’ve shouted with excitement at the cinema a couple of times. Zendaya is charming as always and she contributes to Paul’s development in a masterful way. Skarsgård is terrifying once again and Rebecca has a certain presence in her scenes that brings a whole different tone to the movie. The only tiny minuscule negative detail I perceived about "Dune: Part Two" is that Christopher Walken does pale in comparison with other characters. As the Emperor of this universe, I was hoping for him to be a little bit more frightening, but for me, he just seems old, weak, and manipulable.
This deserves all the praise it has been receiving and more. It's honestly so painful to think that Part Three is far away, but given the quality of these two films, Denis can take as long as he wants to deliver the most astounding trilogy ever written.
My favorite moments of Dune: Paul *breathes*. Stilgar: "He truly is the Messiah, just as it was written."
"May thy knife chip and shatter."
