Dune Part Two

Spoilers

Denis Villeneuve achieved front line director status some time ago but this year's DUNE PART TWO solidifies it.  Utterly.  No matter how one feels about the Frank Herbert source material, it's difficult to be ambivalent about the high caliber of filmmaking on display.  I wanted to see this film in the theater, in IMAX of course.  Didn't make it.  Yet even at home (albeit with a decent size screen and good sound system), this thing rocks.  Totally immerses and compels.  That's what a skilled director does.  Perhaps in spite of a storyline and characters that again leave me cold.  

You should see Part One prior, but it's not entirely necessary.  Especially if you have no investment in this story.  The conflicts therein are familiar in the realm of science fiction.  Duke Paul Atreides (Timothy Chalamet) struggles with and eventually embraces his messiah status, learning along the way that he is actually a descendent of arch-enemy Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard).  Paul will join with the Fremen people on the planet Arrakis in their fight against House Harkonnen.  Especially Chani (Zendaya), a feisty young woman with whom he falls in love.  You'll recall that Arrakis contains the highly coveted and powerful spice known as melange, which can lengthen life and allow a peer into the future.  Melange is guarded by the fearsome sandworms.

The more theologically minded you are, the more religious parallels you with unearth.  Paul, the clear Christ-like figure, but is he really? Herbert's highly critical views of religion might suggest the author's atheism.  Or at least agnosticism.  Political power and the pull of commerce corrupt House Harkonnen, even as they acknowledge the power of Faith, fully embraced by the Fremen people, who treat ancient texts as sacred and infallible.

Heady ideas, but as intriguing as DUNE's world is, also rather indifferent.  The lack of humanity is what has always kept this property a mere curiosity for me.  Despite the affection between Paul and Chani.  Zendaya does lend some much needed emotional weight to this tale, and again Josh Brolin's (as Gurney Halleck, former House Atreides military leader) appearance is like an oasis in the desert, so to speak.   The rest of the cast is solid and perhaps appropriately solemn.  Christopher Walken joins in as Emperor Shaddam IV and looks confused much of the time. 

For me, the real stars are Villeneuve and his team.  They have created a modern epic that recalls the strongest and most compelling types of moviemaking - assured narrative (co-adapted with the director by Jon Spaihts), arresting visuals (lensed by Greig Fraser), measured pace, expert editing (by Joe Walker).  Hans Zimmer lends another dynamic and dissonant score.   All contributing to making what isn't my favorite science fiction property a real event.  And stoking my eagerness for PART THREE......