Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) was nominated for ten Oscars at the 94th Academy Awards. It won six, including Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound. When it comes to those same categories, this sequel does not drop the ball. On a technical level, this film blows any other blockbuster out of the water, not only this year so far, but also most of last year. In fact, this sequel was supposed to be released last year, specifically last fall, so depending on how the rest of 2024 plays out, it will likely struggle at the 97th Academy Awards in which it's now eligible. However, the strength of the work here bodes well that it will show up somewhere. It will certainly go down as the loudest film of the year, so prepare to be bombarded with its soundtrack.
The visuals are of course stunning and dazzling. Quite frankly, the whole piece is beautiful with practically every frame being worthy of hanging in an art museum. However, there are things that kept me from enjoying this film as much as I did the previous. Firstly, a lot of people think Star Wars (1977) ripped off Frank Herbert's novel on which Villeneuve's film is based. I wasn't thinking about Star Wars during Villeneuve's previous installment, but, based on the iconography and even narrative here, I couldn't get Star Wars out of my mind, much to the detriment of this film. This film is certainly better than the last, live-action, theatrical releases in the Star Wars franchise. It's all complicated dynamics, but, all of it feels complicated in a superficial way.
Many of the religious aspects were present in the 2021 entry, but those religious aspects are exacerbated here. This film hits on the head over and over with all this religious mumbo-jumbo. Timothée Chalamet (Wonka and Little Women) stars as Paul Atreides, the son of a duke in charge of a desert planet named Arrakis. Due to a series of incidents, Paul's father is killed and he's forced to take refuge with the native people of Arrakis called Fremen. One of the leaders of the Fremen is a man named Stilgar, played by Javier Bardem (Skyfall and No Country for Old Men). Stilgar thinks that Paul is a messiah that is likely the equivalent of a Jesus Christ. This idea of Paul being the messiah is hammered over and over, but I'm not sure at present I like the implications, even though at the same time those implications seem like they might be subverted in the next installment.
Rebecca Ferguson (The Greatest Showman and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation) plays Lady Jessica Atreides, the mother to Paul who is pregnant with his sister. She's the one pushing the messiah aspect. She even says that she wants to convert as many Fremen people into believing that Paul is the messiah. There's voice-over narration to that effect, but the film doesn't spend time showing us her actually doing so or underlining how manipulative she's actually being and if this messiah thing is all a lie being perpetrated by her. Those elements are here, but it's not as drawn out, as it probably will be in the next installment. Regardless of any manipulations on her part, Stilgar is pretty much a believer already, so her doing much of anything doesn't seem to be necessary. Her presence therefore feels perfunctory.
Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Greatest Showman) co-stars as Chani, a member of the Fremen people. She was born and raised on Arrakis. What's interesting is that she doesn't believe in this messiah stuff. She's practically an atheist. Her stance against this messiah belief makes her probably the most interesting character in the film. She's the one who strongly pushes back against Paul and his mother. Even though she's falling in love with Paul, this religious difference, which Paul doesn't necessarily believe but starts to embrace, becomes a wedge between Paul and Chani. The film never really sells us on the romance between Chani and Paul, mainly because a lot about Chani isn't really conveyed. We don't learn what her family is like. We don't learn about her mother, father or siblings. Other than being a warrior, we don't get any back story or further development of her.
The Fremen can be compared to many groups. The original inspiration where nomadic Arabic people from North Africa and the Middle East. They could also be compared to Native Americans. As such, the villains of this film, the members of the imperial empire, led by the Harkonnen family, could be compared to the European colonists who basically invaded and created what we now call the United States. Yet, there's a lot of iconography that compare the Harkonnen and those soldiers in their army to the Nazis.
There are so many stories about Native Americans or Indigenous people, as well as African or Arabic people, being invaded and exploited by white armies. In those stories, particularly the ones perpetrated by Hollywood, there's usually another white person who helps to fight the colonists or imperialists in order to support the Indigenous or people of color. This is a story trope called the white savior, which is a racist trope. This film essentially has a white savior story as its foundation. Villeneuve does make efforts to push back against that trope. A lot of it comes from Chani, which is effective. The film ends on a triumphant moment that seems to reinforce that white savior trope. Yet, the groundwork is also laid for that white savior trope to be undermined, but not until the next film.
Rated PG-13 for strong violence, suggestive material and brief strong language.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 46 mins.
In theaters.