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It would be very difficult to adapt a very dense book like Frank Herbert’s Dune into just one film. It only fits that Denis Villeneuve would adapt the first of these books into a two-part film, and the end result is that these two films are maybe the most ambitious films that he’s made in his career to date. Where the first film left on a note where it was feeling like an appetizer, Dune: Part Two feels as if it were letting that scope grow even more than you’d remember having seen. That alone might be a perfect testament to what makes Villeneuve one of the most exciting filmmakers working in the blockbuster scene right now.

Dune: Part Two fittingly enough starts right where Part One had ended, after Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), had now joined forces with the Fremen people of Arrakis following the destruction of House Atreides. As he plans to wage war against the House of Harkonnen, Paul also finds himself facing another dilemma on the inside: a choice between the future of the world around himself or the Fremen Chani (Zendaya), with whom he has fallen in love. There’s a very uncomfortable burden that is placed on the young Paul’s shoulders as a result, but it’s one among many things that has made Dune an effective novel at that, because these small factors all add up to the creation of something more grandiose.

Villeneuve never shies away from the smaller moments in bringing this story to the big screen, especially in moments where we see the political side of things that had led to the rebellion led by Paul Atreides. Villeneuve’s choice to show these small moments only goes to show how much he cares deeply about capturing everything in Dune: Part Two on a large scale. It might very well be more adventurous than the first film too, especially with its ambitions hinting towards capturing a sense of the political motivations that lead to such conflicts beginning in the first place. It’s one among many things that I find make Denis Villeneuve among the more exciting filmmakers to work within the major studio system at that; for it’s a fundamental building block to large scale filmmaking too.

Adding to that, it’s visually innovative in ways that I think the original film never was granted much of an opportunity to show. Much of this is present in Grieg Fraser establishing a “look” between the many worlds that build up Dune, where the world of Arrakis sweeps one away akin to the feeling of being in a desert and the world of the antagonistic Harkonnen family is so washed out to a point that it almost looks like total black-and-white. Such contrasts only amount to becoming one of the most visually distinctive looks for a major studio release in recent memory at that; in fact it seems like Fraser has topped what he’d accomplished in the first film.

But I think that this might also be the most fully realized version of said characters on the screen at that too. Timothée Chalamet continues to maintain such composition through his performance of the young Paul Atreides, even taking him to such greater heights at that. In fact, there’s so much energy to be felt from how seeing him try to make sense of why he’s put into a war, but it also further removes him from the traditional blockbuster hero in all the best possible ways. Of course, the general ensemble – including but not limited to Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, and new cast members Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, and Florence Pugh are all wonderful.

Still, I think with how much this film is offering in terms of scope, in how it all looks as we go from one world to the next, from one sandworm ride to the battle sequences, I don’t think there’s been a blockbuster that inspired a similar sense of awe since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy at that. Perhaps not at the same level of refinement as said films, but there’s a similar passion being felt in how Denis Villeneuve allows it all to come together. Yet I think it’s evident he’s trying to reckon with how these films would play towards a current political landscape, too. That’s not to say it all works flawlessly, but there’s also so much to wrestle with in a text like Dune that I think could make it so difficult to adapt with such perfection – and Villeneuve comes close enough.

There may never be a perfect adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune – whether it be in the form of film or television. But the closing chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s own saga is as close as we’ll get. Even in adapting a text like Dune, there’s still a whole other conversation that needs to be had with regards to reckoning with the foundations of the novel too. There’s a part of me that feels like this might very well be an inherent failing we might never fully escape, especially given the amount of MENA culture that the novel lifts from. Yet I won’t lie, there’s also a sort of passion behind the storytelling for Dune: Part Two that is immensely exciting to see in the current blockbuster landscape.

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Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Warner Bros. Discovery.

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Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay by Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, from the novel by Frank Herbert
Produced by Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Patrick McCormick, Tanya Lapointe, Denis Villeneuve
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem
Release Date: March 1, 2024
Running Time: 166 minutes