[Movie Review] "Dune: Part Two" ★★★☆☆ 3.0 stars
In the distant future, the universe has become a feudal society where various noble houses rule over different planets. The Atreides family, lords of the planet Caladan, are ordered by the Emperor to take over the administration of the planet Arrakis, the source of "melange," a substance essential to the lives of all humanity. However, this is a trap set by the Emperor to destroy the Atreides family, and they are wiped out due to a conspiracy between the Emperor and the Harkonnen family. Nevertheless, the heir to the Atreides family, Paul Atreides, and his mother, Lady Jessica Atreides, secretly escape the Harkonnen attack. After making contact with the Fremen, the indigenous people of Arrakis, Paul gradually rises to prominence amidst the conflict between the Fremen and the Harkonnen family, who have taken control of Arrakis in place of the Atreides. He becomes an object of worship as Lisan al-Gaib, the legendary messiah of the Fremen. With the help of Jessica, who has established herself as a Fremen Reverend Mother, Paul awakens the powers of the Kwisatz Haderach, a seer of the future. He then leads the Fremen to challenge the Harkonnen family and the Emperor to avenge his late father.
When enjoying a movie, there are several yardsticks for measuring its quality, and the emphasis placed on each element varies from work to work. For example, in a realistic social drama, the focus would be on the social issues addressed and how they are handled; in a profound mystery, it would be on the plot development and gimmicks; and in a popular entertainment anime, the emphasis would likely be on the coolness or cuteness of the characters. If we were to discuss this film from such a perspective, the point of emphasis here is the perfection of the film's world-building.
Because this film is structured as a classic knight-errant tale and a space opera of cosmic proportions, it carries the risk of becoming a trite work if the visuals or direction are even slightly lackluster. However, the film's direction succeeds in giving the setting a solid sense of credibility by combining Arab-inspired customs, cyberpunk-style designs, and large-scale desert imagery.
Compared to the previous film, which felt somewhat like a prequel, this installment depicts an all-out war in the vast deserts of Arrakis. While the screen is filled with deserts and rocky mountains for most of the runtime, the depiction of other planets that appear at key moments is treated with catchy sci-fi direction, keeping the overall sci-fi world-building at a high level.
The distinct color palettes of each setting are also a plus: the planet Arrakis, with its vast yellow deserts and strong impressions of Islamic cultural life and religious views; the planet Giedi Prime, with its ancient Roman-style customs, bizarre culture where everyone is bald, and a unified monochrome color scheme; and the Imperial planet, which is rich in greenery and water, evoking a Christian cultural sphere.
With such meticulously crafted objects, props, costumes, and makeup, the world of the distant future is constructed with high precision and solidity, allowing the viewer to fully immerse themselves in the world of the film for three hours. It can be said that the long three-hour runtime is necessary to become immersed in this DUNE world.
On the other hand, the pacing of the story feels epic in both a good and bad way. In this film, many characters grow and change significantly—whether it is the protagonist Paul, who awakens as the messiah Lisan al-Gaib; Jessica, who advances her own schemes as a Fremen Reverend Mother; or Chani, who accepts, loves, and eventually parts ways with Paul. However, the depiction of these changes feels rushed and lacks persuasiveness.
Even the impressive events in the film, such as the death of Baron Harkonnen or the downfall of Emperor Shaddam IV, do not feel particularly convincing through the accumulation of drama. To put it more bluntly, for its runtime, the human drama lacks density, making it difficult to empathize with any of the characters, and it also feels weak as a logical political drama.
However, considering that the original work is a classic sci-fi novel and the core of the story is, as mentioned above, a knight-errant tale, this film is likely not meant to be viewed as a human or political drama in the first place. Rather, the film's stance is closer to a cinematic adaptation of a myth or scripture depicting the birth of a messiah. In that sense, it feels more appropriate to view it as a historical film, looking at the accumulation of events from a broad perspective rather than focusing too much on the emotions of each individual character.
Although it is built as a distant-future sci-fi, its essence is that of a myth and a historical film. Whether or not you can enjoy this film depends on whether you can get into this world-building, which is based on Islamic customs and religious views, with space-opera-style sci-fi sprinkled in as flavor. If you can get into it, you will be able to enjoy three blissful hours of savoring the world-building to the bone. Because the film's world-building and the scale of its visuals are directly linked, watching it on a large screen in a movie theater is a must to enjoy it 100%.