Denis Villeneuve Finishes the Story

“Whether [Denis] Villeneuve gets to make Part Two depends largely Part One’s success. Call me a cynic, but I suspect that means we’ll never see this story finished. Either way, I would rather have one magnificent portion than a frenzied, nonsensical whole.”

Those have been the concluding phrases of 1 dumb movie critic’s rapturous evaluate of Villeneuve’s Dune. 

(The dumb movie critic was, uh, me.)

Back then, I used to be glad Villeneuve selected to adapt solely the first half of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel, even when it meant I would by no means see the conclusion of the story. That first half was so lovely and good and well-acted it appeared like a a lot better end result than one other “complete” Dune like David Lynch’s overstuffed, weird (but bizarrely endearing) mess.

It took some time, however Villeneuve managed to make Dune: Part Two, reassembling his solid and artistic group to conclude Paul Atreides’ transformation from inexperienced child to battle-hardened warrior-prophet. It was value the wait. Looking again on my earlier evaluate, I discover that each one its important hosannas — “the future it conjures feel so complete and tactile that some segments play like a documentary of the world to come,” “totally clear in its premise, politics, and operatic sci-fi story,” “filled with the sort of epic grandeur of vision that Dune fans always insist makes the original text special” — apply equally properly right here.

READ MORE: The 10 Worst Fictional Planets to Live On

Picking up exactly the place the final Dune left off, Villeneuve rejoins Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mom Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as they proceed to acclimate to their life amongst the native Fremen individuals of the inhospitable desert planet Arrakis. Following the destruction of their dwelling (and the demise of Paul’s father) at the arms of the evil House Harkonnen, the Fremen chief Stilgar (Javier Bardem) believes that Paul could also be a messiah prophesied to defeat Arrakis’ colonizers — a perception that Jessica is all too completely satisfied to encourage to swimsuit her personal political motives as a member of “Bene Gesserit,” an all-female group of non secular advisors who have spent numerous centuries attempting to result in the “Kwisatz Haderach,” a super-being able to lording over the universe on their behalf.

Paul himself isn’s so certain about his supposed future — and he’s suffering from nightmarish visions of cataclysmic demise and ache that might befall the universe if he accepts Stilgar and Jessica’s prodding and embraces his standing as the Fremen’s chief. Paul’s Fremen lover Chani (Zendaya) isn’t too eager on the entire my-boyfriend-is-actually-a-god-sent-to-start-a-holy-war element of the equation both, though she does struggle alongside him towards the Harkonnen military.

While Paul wrestles with self-doubt, his enemies bear no such considerations. They embrace the sloth-like Baron Harkonnnen (Stellan Skarsgard), his barely incompetent and overmatched nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista), and his barely psychotic and impressive different nephew Feyd-Rautha (Elvis’ Austin Butler). As the battle for management of Arrakis and its all-important spice escalates, it additionally turns into of accelerating concern for the emperor of the whole universe (Christopher Walken – and simply think about all the emails he has to reply day-after-day with that job title) alongside together with his politically savvy daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh).

As all the time, attempting to elucidate the plot of Dune makes you sound barely unhinged, however Villeneuve as soon as once more discovered a solution to make a film that entails telepathy, hallucinogenic cocktails, alien religions, and large sandworms with sphincter-like faces that folks journey on like big rideshares with buttholes for bumpers really feel completely lucid and believable. Unlike so many blockbusters today with their low cost and clearly phony CGI, each of Villeneuve’s Dune really feel actual — and stunningly attractive, even of their moments of horror and terror. (See: The large sandworms with sphincter-like faces.)

Dune additionally stands in stark distinction to so many different shallow tentpoles of current years in additionally investing an unlimited period of time and vitality into treating its characters as absolutely realized and deeply flawed individuals, not merely props to be scanned and programmed into computer systems to allow them to do cool-looking however physically-impossible issues onscreen. Paul faces a dilemma that’s uncommon for a film this scale; not whether or not he’ll win or lose his warfare with the Harkonnens, however whether or not he ought to even enter into such a warfare in the first place, and if the ethical sacrifices he should make to take action are value gaining revenge towards the perpetrators of his father’s homicide.

And whereas most of the different characters work to persuade Paul to embrace his ubermenschian future,  Zendaya provides an extremely wealthy efficiency as Chani, who loves Paul the man, however is deeply ambivalent about his ambitions and about the political chief (or perhaps political puppet) he’s turning into earlier than her eyes. Her largely silent efficiency in the film’s last scenes is absolutely exceptional — all the extra so as a result of it grounds this epic story in the feelings of this one particular person. Watching Paul by means of her eyes shifts Dune from a hero’s journey to a cautionary story.

If Dune: Part Two has a difficulty, it might be that Villeneuve did such an unimaginable and shocking job with the first movie, that the second film doesn’t really feel fairly as groundbreaking or as authentic. It finishes the story, in thrilling and considerate style, but it surely didn’t fairly depart my jaw on the floor the method the first Dune did.

Then once more, perhaps it doesn’t end the story. Dune: Part Two leaves a lot room for a Dune: Part Three that you would virtually journey a sandworm by means of it. That’s to not say I wouldn’t wish to see a 3rd Dune, particularly from this director and solid. They introduced this fantastical future to life in a method that appeared unattainable after Lynch’s Dune. 

Villeneuve has already made it clear he hopes to direct a 3rd Dune in some unspecified time in the future; if he needs to make it, I wish to see it. And this time, I wouldn’t wager towards it taking place.

RATING: 8/10