Movie Review: Dune 2 Is A New Dark Knight Is Born
Watching Dune 2, was like watching The Dark Knight for the first time: impressionable, impressive, and immersive. Directed by Denis Villaneuve and an adaptation of one of the most famous sci-fi series of all time, the movie feels like the very definition of an epic. Similar to the eternally praised Batman film, Dune 2 feels so good and fulfilling that it will stand out: no matter what came before or comes after it. They are the bread and this film is the ham and cheese we were waiting for.
Frankly, I liked Dune Part 1. Of course, it could be a little dry and long like some of the desert paths our characters take, but that it was undeniably beautiful and impactful is true. Dune, as a whole, feels like Star Wars in how it build such a vast world and mythos that it goes beyond the plain rating of ¨good or bad movie.¨ Instead, it feels whole and as a rich as a literary experience. From the very beginning, you are mesmerized: wondering if its author, Frank Herbert, truly imagined such a big world. By minute one, you are in Dune, and by hour 2, you do not want to leave, and just as you near hour 3, you feel like sending a Thank You Note to the cast for the invite.
From gorgeous visuals to a storyline so perfect adapted and paced from its original text, Dune 2 is deserving of every Oscar it hopefully wins, but I fear, as with so many sci-fi films, the magnificence of its cast will be casted aside. After all, Barbie, herself, aka Margot Robbie, was not nominated for her role, despite its richness, because it felt too mainstream and light-hearted to be rewarded for its depth. Hence, I say this, in all sincerity: Timothée Chalamet f**king killed it. He was radiant and almost emblematic to his own acting journey of being the prodigious kid playing lost youth to entering more adult, leading roles where he resolves the dramatic situations rather than being swept by them as a teen. His take on Paul Atreides captivates the heart of a character whose sweetness and determination to do right by all is potentially his very downfall, especially when it comes to his love for Zendaya´s Chani.
Can I just say I am so happy for Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet: talk about to child actors that have had great careers/ lives and just keep on winning! YES! Zendaya turns an, otherwise, annoying character into a fierce, charming warrior. I say this because, in the book, like most literary tropes, Chani is the ¨heart¨ of the hero: morally sculpting and measuring them to make sure power does not corrupt them by trying to convince them they should not go for it, at all. Yet, the film is about a man so destined to become a legend that the real journey is deciding it details. To the world of Dune, Paul is Muad- Dib: a messianic character meant to bring back a green paradise to this arid, ¨spicy¨ one they know. Whether or not, he is actually a Messiah does not matter because he will be impactful, and the chemistry Chalamet and Zendaya share is palpable, tender, and one to cheer for. You want him and Chani to draw their names in the sand with a forever under it, but you know it is doomed from the start.
From Christopher Walken´s brief, but looming presence as the emperor to Austin Butler giving us more accents to meme as Feyd- Rautha, the film is lush in how completely realized every actor has turned their character. Javier Bardem makes Stilgar two yoga trips to Tulum away from a cult documentary: absolutely embodying how faith can help us persist against but also invest too much in everything but ourselves. Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica/ Reverend Mother holds a diabolical energy that, frankly, I understand if I had been married to Oscar Isaac in the last film and they killed him. Meanwhile, Florence Pugh gives Princess Irulan such a simple elegance, that she wraps how this film is SUCH A REPEATING WATCH.
Out March 1, Dune 2 was always destined to make numbers at the box office, but the question was whether it would make a memory amidst audiences. If the last decade of movies shows us anything ,it is that the cinematic experience has been a little lost. Content not as original or captivating beyond the one day trending it builds. Dune 2 gives the audience a launchpad for their imagination that will keep them coming back forever like, Star Wars or Batman. Just ICONIC!
