In the Deserts of Arrakis, ‘Dune 2’ Struggles Against the Sands of Time
Under billowing orange skies, Denis Villeneuve’s epic sequel “Dune: Part Two” fights a losing battle for relevance among the dunes of faraway desert planet Arrakis. Much like the windswept sands that shift and shape the futures of its characters, this sprawling 166-minute film morphs before our eyes into a commentary on the bleak futures wrought by politics and warmongering.
Two years after the release of 2021’s “Dune,” this science-fiction sequel throws open the doors to Herbert’s intricately-realized 1965 novel without pause. “Dune” fans will delight in returning to Arrakis, finding Timothée Chalamet once more as the possibly messianic Paul Atreides. He seeks to lead the persecuted Fremen people alongside his ferocious beloved Chani (Oakland native Zendaya) while continuing to unlock the extent of his prescient powers.
In the halls of power, political maneuvering threatens Paul’s crusade at every turn. Rebecca Ferguson returns as the regal Lady Jessica, who gains new status as a Bene Gesserit priestess in Part Two. She witnesses the squabbles for influence at the galactic Emperor’s court, played with perpetual melancholy by Christopher Walken. Hairless villain Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) and Princess Irulan (Anya Taylor-Joy) jockey for position as well, making the most of their brief appearances.
Only the riveting Rebecca Ferguson and returning players like Javier Bardem’s Fremen leader Stilgar feel truly at home on the alien planet. For much of the cast, a role in “Dune” seems more a desert mirage, full of empty promise and vanishing desirability. No matter Villeneuve’s visual mastery, his sequel cannot conquer the sheer sprawl of its mythology. Overlong battle scenes sap the film’s momentum, leaving no oasis of meaning for the uninitiated to grasp onto.
At its heart, “Dune: Part Two” is a political creature, contemplating a galaxy where there are no easy choices between good and evil. Director Villeneuve rejects the basic hero’s journey: Paul Atreides can never simply triumph over cartoonish villains and usher in peace across the universe. Each faction’s motives remain sympathetic even as violence creeps into Arrakis’s rocky passes.
In the end, does it matter who wins? Every side only brings more corruption, every victory planting the seeds for greater loss. The film’s depressing outlook makes it a challenging watch at times. Why should we invest our hopes in this fictional future, one may ask, when only various flavors of darkness lie at the end of each road?
For fans of Herbert’s novels, “Dune: Part Two” will prove a feast. Newcomers may find its intricate tapestry of characters less appealing than the visual buffet on display. But love it or leave it, Denis Villeneuve’s monumental concluding chapter cements the “Dune” series as one of science fiction’s most fully-realized if not perfectly adapted epics. Its titanic mythology simply may not be built for the multiplex, destined instead to roam the wild spaces of our imagination. There, on the dunes that drift between memory and myth, perhaps the saga can finally find its true home.
