Dune: Part Two - Movie Review (No Spoilers)

The only sad thing about walking out of a theater after watching one of the best films of the decade is knowing that you won’t be seeing another one like it for a long time. I think it is fair to say the rest of the film industry will have a lot of work to do in order to take best picture away from Dune: Part Two. And looking at the release calendar for the rest of the year, I just cannot see it happening.

The film picks up right where it left off in Part one, which is beneficial to those who watched the 2021 film before going into Part two. The film also does a good job of naturally summarizing the first film for those who had forgotten some of the plot details. Don’t worry if you have not yet seen the film, as this review will be totally spoiler free.

I am assuming that most people who are going to see Dune this weekend have not read Frank Herbert’s original novel, but this film is going to be equally enjoyable for both the people who have and had not. It’s a technological spectacle, and not in a dull Marvel kind of way. This film is beautiful, even when it is not trying to be. If Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny gets 300 million, which is a movie I did not even hate, and this one is 190 million, there must be a pyramid scheme going on at Disney. You could have told me this film costed 500 million and I would have believe you, but this is just how far we have advanced. Villenueve continues to prove he is one of the most consistent directors of all time.

Timothee Chalamet stepped up his performance big time in this film. I did not love his performance in the first part, even though I liked the film a lot, but he brought it from end to end this time around. Javier Bardem was easily the standout performance of the film. He understood his character perfectly, and gave a performance that should put him in line for a supporting actor nomination. Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, and Austin Butler were all very good as well. The one let down for me was the role of the emperor, played by Christopher Walken, who I like a lot. And I do think it actually hurts the ending quite a bit, but I can look past most of it since the film is such an achievement.

I would not say Dune: Part Two tops Oppenheimer for me, but I would put at #2 in the 2020s. The way Hollywood is going, I would say there is no doubt a Part Three is going to be announced soon. Overall, I am just happy I can still see movies like this in the theater, and I hope more studios will start to recognize what the audience wants to see in a film.

To clarify, we want to see that. A lot of that. Thank you.