Best Pictures #110: 2024 (97th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Dune: Part Two

 by A.J.

Best Pictures #110: 2024 (97th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Dune: Part Two

“Power over spice is power over all.”

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One (2021) was an incredible box office hit, pop culture phenomenon, and big winner at the Academy Awards, winning 6 of its 10 nominations at the 94th Awards. Dune: Part Two, the continuation of Frank Herbert's epic science fiction fantasy novel, was also a major box office hit though this installment earned a total of only 5 Oscar nominations (Picture, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound, and Visual Effects). I must admit that I was not caught up in the mania for Dune: Part One; it is without a doubt a technical achievement but I found it too serious to be any fun or have a sense of adventure–unlike David Lynch's maligned turned cult classic 1984 version, which is campy and strange and entertaining. I am happy to report however that Dune: Part Two does have a sense of adventure and entertainment in addition to its sense of grandeur and importance.

Perhaps I found this chapter of the new Dune saga more entertaining than Part One because I was already familiar with Villeneuve’s version of the world and characters of the desert planet, Arrakis, also called Dune. Or, perhaps it is because things like world building and the exposition of an intricate plot were the burden of Part One. With all of that out of the way, Dune: Part Two feels by contrast more focused and less esoteric. There is little talk of the mystical and powerful "spice", a thing so coveted and necessary for this interplanetary society that it is the crux of the entire plot. I would even go so far as to guess that someone who is entirely unfamiliar with the Frank Herbert novel, David Lynch version, or even Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One could watch this movie and not feel lost at all. Dune: Part Two is the story of an oppressed native people fighting colonial invaders and a young outsider who may or may not be–but almost certainly is–their prophesied messiah. The exotic sounding names and creatures and costumes are all just window dressing, which is how science fiction fantasy should be.

The cast of Part One returns with Timothée Chalamet playing Paul Atreides and Rebecca Ferguson as his mother, Lady Jessica, who is part of the mystical religious order the Bene Gesserit. There is no “previously on" or recap but the plot threads are easy to pick up. Paul and Lady Jessica have survived a betrayal and massacre of their entire royal house by the evil Harkonnens, who now control Dune. Paul and Lady Jessica are only welcomed, to a degree, into the society of the native Fremen because one of their leaders, Stilgar (Javier Bardem) believes Paul to be the messiah who will liberate Arrakis and turn the desert world into a green paradise. His daughter and Paul's love interest, Chani (Zendaya) is more than skeptical of the prophecy but she starts to have feelings for Paul. Their moments alone together–her teaching him to walk without rhythm, which still seems to have a rhythm, or her not believing Paul about the idea of swimming–are nice character building and emotional respites. Paul comes to believe that he is the messiah and whether or not this is because of a generations old plan by the Bene Gesserit becomes less important as Paul delivers on the promises of the messiah.

At many points in Dune: Part One I could barely see what was happening even though I had all the lights off in my house and the brightness settings on my TV turned all the way up. With Part Two I had no such problems–I did turn off all the lights in my house but this gave the movie a more theatrical feel instead of being a visual necessity. Perhaps this is because most of the action takes place in the desert daytime outdoors though even scenes in underground caves were also clear. Paul triumphantly riding the gigantic desert sandworm is an impressive sight though it is unclear how he makes it stop. The most visually stunning sequence however belongs to the world of the villains, a world that is not so much black and white as it is devoid of color. Baron Harkonnen's (Stellan Skarsgård) favorite and sadistic nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) slaughters drugged fighters in a massive coliseum but one of them, an Atreides prisoner, puts up a real fight, to the blood thirsty delight of Feyd-Rautha. It is impressive that a scene so devoid of color can be so eye-catching. 

Other new cast members include Christopher Walken as the galactic emperor who set the betrayal of the Atreides family in motion and his daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), who functions as an audience stand-in, getting filled in on information about the main plot. The increasing severity of Florence Pugh’s headdresses and face coverings throughout the movie cannot go without notice and feels like a joke by the costume designers. Both Walken and Pugh have little to do other than lend their screen presence, though hearing Walken talk sci-fi Dune speak in his unique voice is unintentionally funny 

In the novel Paul gets to be a bit annoying; he has all the bravado and swagger of a regular teenage boy multiplied by his privileged upbringing and discovery that he is the messiah. Thankfully, as played by Chalamet, Paul is a young man who harbors doubts about himself and his abilities. We know that the prophecy of the messiah was created by the Bene Gesserit to control the Freman; Lady Jessica knows this, Paul knows this, Chani knows it instinctually. Yet Paul and Lady Jessica rebel against their religious and political order and make the prophecy come true, so do they not fulfill the prophecy? Can people believe something enough to make it reality? These are surely questions that Frank Herbert meant to stir with his novel. They were absent or muddled in Dune: Part One but are here in Dune: Part Two adding an extra thematic layer that does not distract from the adventure. 

Though Dune: Part Two concludes the story of Frank Herbert’s Dune, it is actually the middle part of an intended trilogy (to be concluded with Dune Messiah, based on the second Dune novel, in 2026). As far as middle film installments of recent trilogies go, this one is pretty good. It ends with a feeling of “onto the next adventure!” instead of “come back next year for the ending.”

Nominees: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay: Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts; based on the novel by Frank Herbert

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler

Production Companies: Legendary Pictures

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: March 1, 2024 (United States)

Total Nominations: 5, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Cinematography-Greig Fraser; Production Design-Shane Vieau (set decorator), Patrice Vermette (production designer); Sound-Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill; Visual Effects-Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer