Dune: Part Two (2024) - A Colossal Achievement of Technique and Passion.

     Dune: Part Two (2024)

Ok, I've finally found some time to really write down what I think of this second Dune installation. It’s been through a lot of water under the bridge and we're finally here.

Dune Part 2 is a mammoth work, and like all things that are too big the controversy lurks between the small spaces: exactly because although I liked this work light years more than its predecessor, exactly with him it is not without defects, but I will address this discussion later. Now I want to highlight the highs (and they are really highs) of the film. Greig Fraser's cinematography has made an absurd leap in quality compared to the first chapter and you can immediately understand this from the opening scene, truly photonic and evocative like few films released recently.

Hans Zimmer never fails to create perfectly balanced music in "quiet" scenes and fucking explosive in moments full of action and pathos; at times I thought I was watching a film accompanied by the music of Pink Floyd, but instead it was "only" good old Hans (incapable of failing).

In addition to this, the special effects, costumes and sets (as well as make-up) are all perfect and it wouldn't surprise me to see the film win many wins in these categories at the next Oscars.

A note on which I want to go into more detail is the unexpected acting ability of most of the cast, but in particular of Timothée Chalamet who confirms himself to be a memorable actor, and Austin Butler who with his Feyd-Rautha gives a villain noteworthy, not obvious, fucking disturbing but fascinating at the same time.

The rest of the cast is also excellent, but there are a couple of negative points about which I will open a parenthesis.

In short, from a visual and technical point of view, Dune Part 2 manages to go beyond its predecessor, giving each of us one of the best sci-fi of recent years.

The final battle scene is absolutely jaw-dropping and many moments are too well done to be true (like the aforementioned opening scene, Paul's speech or the worm ride).

High moments, which gave me goosebumps against all odds and which lead the great story of Dune towards darker horizons than I expected, starting to show the first similarities with the most famous son of Frank Herbert's work (Star Wars).

Having underlined the key points that make this work the great and powerful that it is, we come to the defects, which, unfortunately, exist.

Let's start with the most obvious one, namely the rhythm: the rhythm and editing of Dune Part 2 don't work properly, this is because in the long run the film gets slow and becomes a bit boring in some places.

The first act is in fact disarmingly slow in which little happens, the second act is handled as it should and the third act lasts very little and doesn't even give the spectator a chance to appreciate what is happening due to its excessive speed. Just to give an example, the final battle lasts 5 minutes and the duel 2. In short, the most anticipated aspects of the film cannot have a similar duration; It's like telling a story and getting to the end and just saying one little sentence about the ending. It does not work like that.

I connect with this to get to another big problem with the film, which is the direct consequence of the first (bad) chapter, namely the story.

The story is not intended as what happens in the film, that is more or less clear and compelling, I am referring to the complete story of the world and lore of Dune which does not exist. You are thrown into contexts, realities, characters, even worlds that you don't know shit about, just because in the first and also in this second chapter there was a lack of in-depth analysis of what the rules of the world and their function. Which is really a shame, because in a science fiction world like that of Dune, an insight into what the World with a capital M is it’s a necessary. This should not be done because the public is stupid and needs a guide to understand what they are watching, but because being a world different from ours the viewer must have at least a smattering of what the world is and what they are watching, that's all .

And I know that Denis is a lover of images rather than dialogues, but very often the dialogues are used by the characters not to talk about themselves but to talk about the world in which they live through them, which (also) does not happen in this case. The result is consequently disorienting and even annoying in some parts of the film.

Now, I don't want to lump everything together, because this second installation is much clearer and deeper than the first, but I would really have liked to see more care on the part of Denis in this aspect.

As for the acting parenthesis, I didn't like 2 things: the first is undoubtedly Zendaya, who with her sulky mono expression lowers the quality of the film a lot, the other is Javier Bardem who gave the performance with his Stilgar most pathetic of the entire film (also due to a rather weak narrative thread).

In conclusion, I liked this second chapter of the saga much more than the first. Despite the imperfections and smudges I am quite satisfied. The only thing that saddens me a little and in which I place all my hopes at the same time is Denis Villeneuve himself: the man managed to create one of the best sequels ever with 2049, and I only hope that the level with the next installation rises closer and closer to the levels of that film than to what has been done up to now with the Dune double.