‘Dune 2’ stuns the screen with epic action scenes and sci-fi magic

PHOTO: IMdb/studio photo

Review by Jackson Chelius

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

9/10
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Science-Fiction

Dune 2, the highly anticipated sequel to Dune (2021), was released on March 1. Filling theaters, the sequel nearly doubled the opening weekend box office of its predecessor. So, does this new installment live up to the hype? The answer is a resounding yes. 

The first thing you’ll notice about the movie, along with a key reason for its success, is its star studded cast including: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Javiar Bardem, with new additions in the cast like Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Austin Butler.

The sci-fi spectacle continues the story of Paul Atriedes, the son of a powerful duke who must learn the ways of the mysterious Fremen (desert people) and go into hiding in the unforgiving desert on the planet Arrakis after his royal family is betrayed and their belongings are lost. 

The film is based on the 1965 Novel “Dune” written by Frank Herbert. The book inspired later works like Star Wars, Mad Max and Blade Runner. Dune 2 will be exceptionally appealing to fans of the genre who will be able to point out similarities and parallels between Dune 2 and the aforementioned science fiction classics.

I believe that moviegoers who are not particularly fans of science fiction can still enjoy the movie due to the characters and the intricate relationship between them. 

In the first movie, Zendaya’s character “Chani” only appears for about seven minutes of screen time. In the sequel, much of the first third and final third of the almost three-hour movie focuses on developing the relationship between Paul and Chani, making you increasingly invested in their relationship to the point of almost forgetting about the ridiculous sci-fi aspects like the giant worms that roam the planet. The time spent on the characters makes the choices they make and twists that come in the third act even more shocking. 

While the drama and character development takes up much of the movie, the heavily built up action sequences do not disappoint. On a technical level, the movie is practically perfect. I was never distracted by bad CGI or practical effects and instead floored by the scale of the film. The action scenes are reminiscent of battles in Marvel’s “AvengersEndgame” and “Infinity War” while also reminding me of huge battles in the HBO show “Game of Thrones.”

For me, the biggest flaw of the first movie was the unsatisfying ending that left me asking, “that’s it?” and being caught off guard by the end credits. All I will say is, this is not the case in “Dune 2,” whose ending is one of the best of any movie in recent memory. 

The movie is not just entertainment which leaves you the second you leave the theater. I continue to think about the themes of the movie. Without spoiling anything, the movie deals with an extremely powerful leader and the darker sides of power that are not usually explored in movies with “The Chosen One” trope. It also looks at the danger of blind allegiance to a messiah-like figure.