With its beautiful cinematography, visceral action, a dark score by Hans Zimmer and interesting character arcs, Dune Part Two is a great addition to the already amazing Dune Part One.

You don't need to be a prophet to see what is ahead. Your path leads to war, you know that. So war is coming... what will you do when you feel its breath upon your neck?

Denis Villeneuve is my favorite director and Dune Part One is one of my all-time favorite science-fiction films, so my expectations for Dune Part Two were incredibly high. I am in a bit of a shock to say that Dune Part Two met my unreasonably high expectations. Is it a perfect film? No, I don't think it is, and I don't think it has to be... or even can be.

My only, somewhat minor, issue with the film would be that the plot didn't flow as smoothly as I would've liked it to—it felt like the film was jumping from scene to scene instead of flowing from one scene to another. This did become less of an issue the more I watched the film though, probably because I became more familiar with the plot and its structure.

The pacing also felt a bit fast, especially compared to Dune Part One, which had perfect pacing. But after multiple viewings, this too became less of an issue. An example of this would be the final battle. I initially thought this was too short, but I then came to the realization that this event was never about the battle itself. It was about Paul luring The Emperor from the safety of his ship, to come to Arrakis, so that he could overthrow him and become The Emperor. Another example would be the fight between Gurney and Rabban, which I initially thought was ended too abruptly. After having some time to think about it, the abrupt ending of that fight made perfect sense. It shows us that Rabban is a nobody—he makes a lot of noise, but when it is actually time to prove himself, he fails.

Regardless, I still think the film would've benefitted from 20 more minutes, especially in the third act, to provide the plot with the necessary breathing room. ittedly, while reading the second half of the book, I also felt that the plot wasn't as smooth and the pacing also felt a bit off. So, maybe Villeneuve, the editor Joe Walker, and the screenwriter Jon Spaihts did the best they could with the plot considering the source material...

This faster pacing, combined with the sensory overload, dense plot and strong character arcs, made Dune Part Two quite overwhelming on my first watch. Not necessarily in a bad way, but I wasn't able to get my thoughts straightened out after my first viewing—something I was able to do after my second, and even third, viewing. Having said all that, I absolutely loved the entire experience it provided and how it is a great continuation of the Dune story. I have seen the film in both IMAX and Dolby Cinema, and even though Dolby Cinema had better image quality and a more balanced audio mix, IMAX felt more immersive due to the 1.90:1 expanded aspect ratio of the screen and more impactful bass. Unfortunately, we don't see great films like this very often. So when we do, I think it is something we should cherish.

As the title indicates, Dune Part Two feels like it is part of a film—Like Villeneuve said, Part One and Part Two should be considered as one film. It doesn't only feel like the second half of a film, it also feels like the midpoint of a story—with the midpoint being Paul taking the Water of Life. Knowing that Dune Messiah will be Dune Part Three, this makes sense. I can't wait for this trilogy to be completed. I feel that when Part Three is released, the trilogy feels like one big and cohesive story, the story of Paul Atreides. Right now it feels like watching the first half of Lawrence of Arabia without watching the second half—like, it's excellent but there is so much more to the story, and therefore to the plot and character arcs too.

I loved the omens in Dune Part One. After watching it again after seeing Part Two, I noticed there are a lot of omens hidden in the dialogues. Even though I have read the book, I never really picked up on them before.


"A great man doesn't seek to lead. He's called to it... and he answers." - Leto Atreides


This dialogue from Leto Atreides in Dune Part One has so much more meaning to it when you know Paul will be called to lead by the Fremen in Part Two. One that also has much more meaning is the vision that Paul has about someone that hands him a knife. Initially, I thought this was only referring to Chani giving Paul the knife to fight Jamis, but now I realize it is as much about Jessica's influence on Paul to start the Holy War.


"I'm following someone... and it triggers a Holy War. Millions and millions of people starving to death... because of me."


A more obvious omen is that Gurney warns Paul about the hidden blade when they are training. Paul re this lesson in his fight with Jamis and his fight with Feyd-Rautha.


"The desert takes the weak. My desert... my Arrakis... my Dune." - The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen


ing this dialogue from The Baron in Dune Part One made the scene where Paul tells the Fremen to give The Baron's dead body to the desert even better. It tells us that The Baron is a weak man... a weak man taken by the desert.


"Paul Atreides must die, for Kwisatz Haderach to rise."


This dialogue, and the vision of Paul dying, is another one that stood out to me. Dune Part One makes it seem like this is about the fight with Jamis, but it is about the Water of Life—one of the strongest and most important moments of Paul Atreides' character arc.

And talking about Paul's character arc, Timothée Chalamet did an outstanding job portraying Paul Atreides and his rise into becoming the Lisan al-Gaib and Kwisatz Haderach. His acting skills have significantly grown since Dune Part One. The way Timothée portrayed Paul Atreides after he took the Water of Life was such a strong contrast compared to how we see Paul before he took it. The same can be said about how Rebecca Ferguson portrayed Lady Jessica after she took the Water of Life—both created some very dark and gripping scenes that changed the tone of the entire film. Paul's speech to the Fremen in the South was very eloquent. It was so eloquent that even I felt its persuasive force and emotional weight during that entire scene.


"E Rudhi Dina, heshidhanii: ne Lisaan al-Gayib!"


Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha was another one that I was impressed with. Butler is unrecognizable and becomes overshadowed by the strong characteristics of Feyd-Rautha, exposing us to this intense presence whenever he is on screen. I can go on and one about how great the actors were in Dune Part Two, but every single one did an amazing job. They all disappeared into their characters—characters that helped strengthen the worldbuilding Frank Herbert created and Denis Villeneuve, and his team, put to screen.

You can't review Dune and not talk about the cinematography, especially the grand scale it visualizes. Greig Fraser has outdone himself with Dune Part Two. I loved how they shot certain scenes as if they were shot with a telephoto lens and used Telephoto Compression. This is a technique that enlarges the background without enlarging the foreground, which is great to create a massive scale for objects in the background relative to object in the foreground—like the scene where you see Paul and Chani running in the foreground and seeing a massive Ornithopter falling in the background, or the scene where you see Paul standing on the dune in the foreground and seeing the massive worm coming towards him in the background. Telephoto Compression also provides the ability to shoot the scenes in deep focus. This way the foreground, middle ground and background remain in focus... although this effect was not replicated in every scene that looked like it used Telephoto Compression.

One of my favorite scenes of the film is the arrival of Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. We see Stilgar waving his hand to feel the wind while the camera slowly moves forward, grabbing our attention and moving it from his hand gesture to the open desert and the sandstorm behind his hand—a reminiscence of Paul's hand gesture after he took the Water of Life and said:


"My visions are clear now. I see possible futures, all at once. Our enemies are all around us... and in so many futures they prevail. But I do see a way, there is a narrow way through."


This visual connection between the hand gestures, combined with our shifting attention from the hand gesture to the open desert and predicted desert storm in the background, tells us that Paul knows he has to lure The Emperor to Arrakis, so he can overthrow him and become Emperor himself.

While the camera slowly moves forward to Stilgar's hand and the open desert, the score is also slowly rising. And when The Emperor's ship arrives from behind the mountains, the chanting in the score becomes this powerful force. The camera is positioned low on the ground, looking up at this colossal ship in the sky that is coming towards us. This blocking, combined with the chanting in the score, beautifully shows us the rank, power and almost godlike status The Emperor has.

Another scene I love is the scene with Feyd-Rautha and Lady Fenring on Giedi Prime. While shooting The Batman, cinematographer Greig Fraser, had a lot of time playing around with lighting that is surrounded by darkness. This skill is exactly what he shows with the infrared sequences on Giedi Prime. The scene with Feyd-Rautha and Lady Fenring has the best use of lighting I have seen in a while, up to par with the lighting in Blade Runner 2049. The shot where we see their faces in darkness being lit by flashes of light from the fireworks, and the shot of the dark silhouet of Lady Fenring in the foreground created by the flashes of light in the background, create strong images that provides the scene with a lot of mystery.

Something else about the cinematography in Dune Part Two that particularly stood out to me, was the blocking and staging during the fight scenes. The way the camera moved along with the characters looked really well choreographed and dynamic, placing the viewer right inbetween the action—adding to the immersion of the action.

Another aspect that added to the immersion was, of course, the visceral and dark score by Hans Zimmer. It reminds me of the score in Dune Part One, but way darker. It feels as if Hans Zimmer said f*ck it, and went all in with this one. I really appreciate the contrast between the more dreamlike and mysterious score of Dune Part One, and the dark score of Dune Part Two. This perfectly resembles the story of Paul Atreides. In the first film, he is this innocent boy who discovers a beautiful new world, while in the second film, this innocent boy turns into the Lisan al-Gaib who is out for revenge.

Zimmer manages to enhance each scene with his beautiful and impactful score. Besides the previously mentioned arrival of The Emperor scene, another great example is the scene where Paul and Chani sit in the desert. We hear the intimate A Time of Quiet Between the Storms track that starts out as this subtle sound in the background, which then moves to the foreground and unfolds into this lively wave of emotions when the love between Paul and Chani is shown on screen—transferring the emotions of both Paul and Chani to the viewer. Completely contrary to the subtlety of this scene, is the scene where the Fremen attack the Spice Harvester. In this scene, we hear the more aggressive Harvester Attack track that quickly builds tension with its higher BPM and overlapping electronic sounds, and when the tension is at its highest... it hits you with these impactful short bursts of drums when the Fremen attack the Harkonnen—transferring the adrenaline rush of the Fremen to the viewer.

For years, people have said that Frank Herbert's book, Dune, is impossible to adapt. I think Villeneuve has proven to us that this is not the case—his screenplay shifts the focus more to the story of Paul Atreides, and manages to not only visualize the work of Frank Herbert, but also to transfer its spirit from page to screen. Yes, there were quite a few things missing or changed in both films, but as someone that has read the book, I do believe this Villeneuve adaptation is the best Dune adaptation we will ever see.

A big change from the book is that in the film, Paul is the one that kills The Baron instead of Alia, and I think it was really well executed. Right before The Baron killed Leto, he said his bloodline ends there, having Leto think Paul is dead. When Paul kills The Baron, he says "grandfather", meaning that not only the Atreides bloodline continues... but The Baron's bloodline continues too—The Baron's bloodline is conquered by his enemy.

Overall, Dune Part Two was an amazing theater experience and a great continuation of the Dune story. It is an overwhelming sensory overload that I am definitely going to enjoy many more times to come. Dune Messiah can't come soon enough.

Addaam reshii a-zaanta!

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