by G. E. Uke, Reporter
Frank Herbert’s “Dune” is a famous and controversial series for many reasons. Cinematic adaptations are hard because not only do they need to depict all the power and alien wonder of the books, but they also need to boil down the intellectual themes into a form the public can understand. Frank himself doesn’t do this very well; he often gets long-winded and expresses both contempt and reverence for subjects like faith, heredity, virtue, culture, etc. A major undertone of the series is; “Humans are gullible and easily manipulated, but in the end they need to be, and let me show you why.” Conveying this in a non-condescending manner that leaves people feeling uplifted and satisfied rather than confused or depressed is a tall order, particularly when you need to couple these messages with satisfying action and drama.
But they do it.
When I went in to watch Dune: Part 2, I’d already received a taste of what Denis Villeneuve was capable of. I had high expectations because the previous movie had shown me he *could* bring the Dune series to life in all its nuanced complexity. But I was still leery as to whether or not he did. I didn’t want to be disappointed.
That said, nothing is disappointing about Dune: Part 2. It is a perfect movie.
All the “tough” reviewers out there who look for something disparaging to say about every flick they watch in a vain attempt to sound sophisticated need to simply bow at the waist and accept that every actor did a fantastic job. There were no weak roles, and so it is impossible to give a shoutout to anyone for being more exceptional than anyone else. No character was extraneous or redundant. I will admit that I initially thought Timothee Chalamet had too fresh and youthful an appearance to do Paul Atredes justice. But nope. He can go low-grade insane, suffer an existential crisis, become a messianic warlord, and knife his asshole relatives with the best of them. Cheers Timothee, I was wrong.
Dune: Part 2 is…powerful, emotional, deep, alien, and heartfelt in equal proportion. It also pulls zero punches when it comes to sparing the audience. Every time a scene calls for invading a city, or riding a giant sandworm, or fighting colossal war machines I’m sure somebody at the studio said something like “Gee, we should dumb this down a bit so it’s more palatable to viewers with delicate sensibilities.” And then that guy got smacked. If a scene calls for the audience to get smashed, they get smashed. And I mean *smashed*. The entire theater was shaking. After every scene of this type, all I could think was that it couldn’t be done right any other way. There were no mewling compromises or cowardly half-measures. Even the villains were downright heroic in their villainy. You love to hate them.
The romance between Paul (Timothee Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) was interesting because I’ve never seen Zendaya play a character in a major movie who wasn’t sarcastic. Spider-Man trilogy? Sarcastic. Greatest Showman? Pretty sarcastic. She did a good drug addict in Euphoria, but I’ve never seen her in a role that magnifies her presence as a *woman* before, or a figure of virtue. In Dune: Part 2 she is splendidly hard, feminine, and has a tremendous depth of emotion. Chani is important because hers is the *human* perspective; a normal woman who cries out against all the weird prophetic jerkery dragging Paul away from her into a destiny he hates. Chani is pure, and Zendaya shows us that purity. We identify with her because we see all of her love and pain, not just in one or two good scenes but consistently throughout the movie. That is hard, and I recognize the accomplishment.
When Feyd-Rautha finally got his screen time I thought he’d be a fairly minor character, but they put in the effort to make him *scary*. No disrespect to Sting in a body suit, but Austin Butler did it better. Good job Austin. I no longer think of you as a one-dimensional neo-boyband Justin Beiber clone. You’ve got chops.
Rating: 
I could continue ranting about Dune: Part 2 for many more pages, but this is a review and not a book. So I will simply say that Dune: Part 2 gets 5/5 stars. I would break our normal rating scale and go to a higher number if I could, because this movie requires a bigger one to express how excellent it is. If you are reading this, I suggest you go see it while it remains in theaters.
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