Review of Dune: Part Two, directed by Denis Villeneuve

My sister and I, after watching the first Dune movie, waited the two years for this to come out. We were so pumped, and even debated seeing the movie on opening weekend. But because movie crowds have been getting terrible, we decided to wait a week or two before heading out to see the film.

I knew that this movie was going to be hype because of the sheer amount of traffic I was getting to this blog. Like my Part One post was getting an insane amount of traffic compared to my normal numbers, and I realized everyone was down for the film.

That said, in the time that had passed, I read the first book in the series, and thought that it certainly was an interesting take to go down that route, especially in the 1960s. Herbert was brave, I’ll give him that, even though the book was way too dry for me to keep reading the series.

Anyways, I went in to this movie with high expectations. I won’t spoil too much of my thoughts until the end of this review, but I think overall I shouldn’t have gone in with all of these expectations.

Let’s get into the review!

Paul Atreides rallies the Fremen and decides to get revenge against those who killed his father.

We pick up right where the last movie left off: the House Atreides has been annihilated by the Harkonnen. We get voiceovers from Princess Irulan, the daughter of the Emperor, speculating that Paul might still be alive.

Meanwhile, on Arrakis, Paul and his mother are with Stilgar’s group of Fremen. They are moving through the desert when they are spotted by Harkonnen troops, who are now going through the depths of the desert to try and capture or kill any Fremen they come across. They take down the Harkonnen platoon, then head to Sietch Tabr, a Fremen stronghold.

There, Paul and his mother are greeted with suspicion. Some see them as potential spies to take down the Fremen, but Stilgar and his followers, who are from the more religious south, believe he is the Mahdi. The Mahdi is destined to save Arrakis and bring peace and prosperity throughout the land.

While Paul is seen as the Mahdi, Jessica is threatened by Stilgar to become the new Reverend Mother. If she doesn’t he will kill her on the spot. She agrees, not revealing she is pregnant, and drinks the Water of Life. She lives through the poison, but becomes something else.

She inherits the memories of all Reverend Mothers before her, but she can also hear the mind of her daughter Alia inside of her. Together, they agree they need to use Paul’s power as being seen as the Mahdi, and convince the Northern Fremen he is the Mahdi.

Outside, Chani and her friend discuss how the prophecy, in the Northern view, was made to manipulate the Fremen. They don’t believe in the Mahdi, but Stilgar and his guys do. Paul restates his intention to fight alongside the Fremen, rather than ruling them, but this sets us up for some major plot points later.

Chani and Paul also fall in love while Paul integrates with the Fremen, learning their ways. He adopts a new Fremen name, but a storm is coming their way. The Harkonnens have not done enough to prevent spice raids, and the Baron decides to put his sadistic nephew Feyd-Rautha in charge of Arrakis.

We see a scene where he cuts down the last of the Arrakis prisoners in front of a screaming crowd. We see a side plot where the Bene Gesserit send someone in to get pregnant by him, securing the lineage. On Arrakis, Jessica travels down south after arguing with Paul.

Paul is afraid of going South, as he has had visions of a holy war if he goes down there. He then reunites with Gurney while on a raid, and then Gurney shows Paul where all of the nuclear weapons of the Atreides house were hidden. Feyd-Rautha attacks the Northern stronghold after that, and everyone is forced to evacuate. Chani’s friend is killed in the raid.

Taken to the South, Paul is lowkey forced to drink the Water of Life, which usually kills men. Jessica forces Chani to mix her tears into the liquid, but when Paul wakes up, he now can have visions across time and space. He sees his sister on an Arrakis filled with water, and learns his mother is the Baron’s daughter.

Now changed, Paul sees himself as the Mehdi, completely switching. Chani is upset by this, and they lure the Emperor to Arrakis. The Fremen plan to attack everyone with sandworms, the bombs, and brute force, and Paul, after crashing the meeting between the Baron and Emperor, kills the Baron.

Paul then demands to marry Irulan and get the throne. Feyd-Rautha volunteers to fight Paul as the Emperor’s champion, and then Paul, while seemingly losing the duel, kills him. The Emperor gives up his power, but the Great Houses reject his new rule and come to attack.

Paul orders the Fremen to fight back, and Chani leaves, angry at Paul, leaving on a sandworm.

Overall Thoughts

I think this is a wonderful movie when it comes to the visual elements—the cinematography in this one reminds me of the beauty of what movies can and cannot be.

That said, I don’t think the story of Dune is for me. I can really appreciate how it goes against the grain by showing the dangers of a charismatic leader, and I did enjoy how they changed the plot of the books to make Chani more resistant to Paul in this film.

I’ll still watch the next movie if and when it comes out, as I like Villeneuve’s work overall. The Dune books are just way too dense for me, and I found myself liking this movie less than the first one, although it lays the theoretical groundworks of the series (environmental, political, etc.).

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