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Dune Part 2 tells the second half of the story from the original Dune science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. We follow Paul as he matures from outcast heir of a duke into the messiah and leader of the Fremen people of Dune. The war with the Harkonnens continues and ends with Paul’s victory due to the assistance of the Fremen. Meanwhile Paul falls in love with Chani.

It was fitting to cut the movie in half as Dune‘s original publication was done in two parts as a magazine serial. The movie tries to fit as much as possible, but still left portions of the book out. I got exhausted watching it. Dune Part 1 was two and a half hours. Part 2 is even longer at two hours and 45 minutes. The 2000 Sci Fi channel series was also about five hours long in total as well. I wonder what the new movies really bring to the franchise as a whole that the miniseries didn’t. Would a new edit of the miniseries for a theatrical release have accomplished the same goal? The new movies are good but they may have better served their audience by being a miniseries as before.

Part 2 followed the lead of Part 1 with stunning visuals. The rolling desert dunes look beautiful and hot. The futuristic machines, shields, and lasers are impressive. The spice dreams are trippy but still interpretable for a knowledgeable audience, meaning they’re doing what they need to for foreshadowing. Sandworms look good, but I was slightly disappointed that they went for a realistic interpretation of their movement. While ridden the worms are still mostly beneath the sand instead of entirely on top of it. Additionally the sand is kicked up creating a giant cloud of dust that further obscures the worms.

Two key scenes really aesthetically stood out. When Paul walks through the Fremen as a messiah we get shots within the crowd contrasted with shots from directly overhead. Paul is just another dot of color among hundreds of people, but we can tell which one he is as the crowd parts around him. The second scene I liked was the introduction of Feyd-Rautha, Paul’s destined rival. Feyd is a sadistic psychopath, so his first scene is a gladiatorial combat where he kills three people. Thousands of Harkonnen subjects show up to watch in a vertically stacked arena. Every single person has white skin, a shaved head, and wears all white. The scene was presented in black and white, a very unusual choice for modern movies. Additionally, it was shot with stark lighting so there were very few shades between black and white. Dune is set in the far future where humanity’s cultures have continued to evolve, multiply, and mutate. The villainous Harkonnen culture feels very alien and the unusual presentation of a sporting event really drives it home.

The sound design for the movie is also excellent. It’s not usually something I notice in movies, which is probably a good thing. You shouldn’t be noticing the sound design because it often breaks your immersion. If you want a bad example, look at Troy. Great action movie, but the sound clips are recycled in a couple of scenes. Dune Part 2 is a good example of sound design. The music is amazing. There’s this wonderful horn noise that’s repeated in the score to symbolize the call of destiny that Paul is experiencing. The shields, lasers, and sandworms all have great sound effects as well. Great work.

The acting is wonderful. Timothée Chalamet as Paul, Zendaya as Chani, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar were great as the heroes of the story along with a great supporting cast. Chalamet captured Paul’s avoidance of his destiny and eventual acceptance of what he must do. Bardem played a great religious devotee, copying many other appearances in the past for religiously devoted characters. Notably he seemed to base his portrayal off of Topol’s Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. Zendaya captured a slow developing romance between Chani and Paul that moved backwards as much as it did forwards in rational ways instead of the farcical nature of a romantic comedy.

The villains were also great. Stellan Skarsgård brought his usual crackling voice to Baron Harkonnen, and Austin Butler copied Skarsgård’s accent almost perfectly for Butler’s role as Feyd-Rautha. There are a few shots where the speaker was off camera and I couldn’t tell which one of them was speaking. It’s a unique attention to detail that I feel like most science fiction or period history films overlook. Going back to Troy as another example, the Greeks do not have a uniform accent, each character has a different accent which wouldn’t make sense. Dune Part 2 has the characters have such similar accents that you almost can’t tell them apart! Wonderful voice control and Feyd-Rautha is absolutely menacing.

I am unsure how understandable the movie is for people that haven’t read the book. The Dune novel series leans heavily into political storytelling where a raised eyebrow carries a lot of hidden meanings that the narrator explains. It’s much harder to unpack those actions in cinema where constant narration feels clunky and immersion breaking. I think the film did a great job of showing with minimal telling about the technology, the Fremen culture, and the Harkonnen culture. I have read the books, so I’m not sure what it would be like for someone who hasn’t. Maybe its accessible enough? The box office numbers seem to indicate so.

Anybody who’s a fan of science fiction should see this movie. Dune is a classic science fiction novel and the two part movies are an excellent adaption. I could probably get into an argument about whether the Sci Fi channel mini series was a better or worse adaption, but either way, Dune Part 2 is a blast. It’s a solid action film as well. However, anybody with a weak bladder should not see this movie in theaters. Two hours and forty five minutes is… a lot.