Denis Villeneuve took on a monumental challenge in 2023: adapting a sci-fi classic that had defeated every filmmaker before him. Yet, against all odds, Villeneuve pulled it off surprisingly well. He brought Frank Herbert’s colossal saga to the big screen with minimal alterations—at least in terms of its essence—faithfully adapting the first book (or, to be precise, roughly its first half). But when it comes to Dune: Part Two, things aren’t quite as straightforward.
Dune: Part Two is a GOOD movie, if…
…you haven’t read the book.
If that’s the case, you’re in for a spectacular, at times overwhelming revenge story. After being exiled and losing his father due to the schemes of the Emperor and the villainous Baron Harkonnen, Prince Paul Atreides finds himself in the best possible place to exact his revenge: the most hellish place in the universe, the desert planet Arrakis—also known as Dune.
This barren wasteland is home to the Empire’s most valuable resource: the spice, a substance that extends life and expands human consciousness. The planet’s oppressed native tribes, the Fremen, have long been impatiently awaiting their prophesied messiah. Meanwhile, the mysterious Bene Gesserit order, which has spent millennia manipulating noble bloodlines in hopes of bringing forth the human supercomputer known as the Kwisatz Haderach, has already laid the groundwork centuries in advance.
Trained by the finest warriors of the Imperium, Paul simply has to step into the role that has been prepared for him. Not to mention that, in addition to the vast desert and the colossal sandworms lurking beneath its surface, millions of fanatical Fremen warriors are waiting deep within Arrakis’s uncharted sands for someone to lead them to their promised paradise. And, of course, their company could be quite useful to anyone looking to challenge the Emperor himself.
Thanks to the spice, Paul begins to experience visions of the future—and much to his own and the Bene Gesserit’s surprise, the prophecy starts fulfilling itself…
A Feast for the Eyes… and the Ears
Villeneuve’s film is grand in every sense. Beyond its universe-defining story, Dune: Part Two is a visual spectacle. Everything feels monumental—the starships, the desert landscapes, the gargantuan sandworms.
The film’s architecture is dominated by brutalist designs that reduce human observers to mere specks of dust. The Harkonnen arena is so absurdly massive that it defies reason. The Baron’s viewing platform stretches so high into the sky that following the battles below with the naked eye seems impossible. (Honestly, they might as well just stream the fights from home.)
Timothée Chalamet, fully transformed into Paul Atreides, exudes an almost magnetic charisma, pulling his followers in with irresistible force.
And then there’s Hans Zimmer’s score—piercing tribal motifs woven into yet another masterful composition. Few films come to mind where the music alone conveys such profound emotion. At some point, the unsuspecting viewer may realize they’d happily march under Muad’Dib’s banner, no matter where the Fremen’s new messiah decides to lead them.
What the movie left out
Dune: Part Two is breathtaking in every way. But those who haven’t read the book can’t even begin to imagine what they’re missing. Frank Herbert crafted an unparalleled, intricate world in his novels. Villeneuve, to his credit, captures the essence of Dune beautifully, but the complex, clockwork-like depth of Herbert’s world never fully materializes. Even two marathon-length films aren’t enough to encompass it all.
For instance, the book’s theatrical and cunning Baron Harkonnen has been stripped of these two essential traits in the film, transforming him into a simple, albeit oversized, potato doughnut.
And the second-best character in the Dune books (after Paul Atreides, obviously) doesn’t even make an appearance. That is, she is only present in an embryonic state. Of course, we’re talking about Alia, Paul’s sister. The Fremen fear nothing in this world—except for this four-year-old, all-knowing monster. Like her not-so-beloved grandpop, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Alia steals every single scene she’s in. For that reason alone—if not for the countless others—it’s worth picking up Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking novel.
Dune: Part Two Is NOT a Good Movie If…
…you’ve read the book. (Beware, some spoilers ahead!)
In that case, you’ll be stifling laughter from the very first scene. Dune: Part Two makes the same unfortunate mistake as Game of Thrones: every change it makes is either unnecessary or just plain stupid. Denis Villeneuve, however, sometimes takes it a step further. In several instances, he outright tramples on the fundamental world-building pillars of Herbert’s novel.
“He loved the Duke like a son,” declares Princess Irulan in the very first scene, referring to her father, Emperor Shaddam IV, and to Leto, Paul’s father.
Yeah, bullshit! The Emperor hated the Duke! Leto Atreides was a threat to his power. He was becoming increasingly popular among the divided Great Houses and, on top of that, had secretly built a small but highly effective military force—essentially signing his own death warrant. Period.
Of course, that’s still an easy enough pill to swallow; a feudal ruler doesn’t need to justify eliminating an annoying rival.
Here comes the Messiah—everyone shut up!
Things get much worse when we look at the poor Fremen. The entire point of Dune: Part Two is that Paul joins the Fremen, earns their respect, rises to lead them, and then wages war against those who destroyed House Atreides.
The Fremen are the the ultimate killers of the Dune universe—something no one had the faintest idea about until Paul Atreides stepped onto the scene. They are a surprising and awe-inspiring gift for Paul and his mother. They’re all hardened, ruthless, and relentlessly pragmatic eliminators.
In contrast, when Paul and Lady Jessica arrive in the Tabar sietch, it almost feels like they’ve landed in Kazakhstan, right in the backwater village of Kuczek*, home to the famous television reporter Borat Sagdiyev.
The Fremen, as we’ve established, are a pragmatic people. Any outsider who wanders into their territory gets their throat slit on sight. However, the cautious and skeptical Stilgar from the book now bounces around Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two like a proud (and perhaps too plump for a Fremen) uncle. He almost immediately sees the promised Messiah in him. He’s as enthusiastic as if his nephew just won a spelling bee competition. Indeed, this kid belongs in the national finals!
In the Dune Universe, Everyone Does Mental Math
Addition. Subtraction. Multiplication… and logarithmic equations. All in their heads. The Butlerian Jihad—one of the most pivotal historical events in Herbert’s work—ensured that all computers were immediately and permanently scrapped. Since then, all advanced calculations have been performed by the Mentats, with a little help from spice, of course. (Though Villeneuve’s film barely acknowledges them).
Which raises the question: who the hell, and how, is operating the Harkonnens’ planetary-scale holo-map, which displays the movement of their spice harvesters in real time? The Holy Spirit himself, perhaps?
Who’s Got the Power?
At the beginning of Dune: Part One, the ranking of the known universe’s strongest military forces is as follows:
1. The Sardaukar – the Emperor’s elite forces
2. House Atreides troops
…
…
…
X. Everyone else—way behind
By the end of the first film, Leto Atreides’ army is completely wiped off the board. But then, with one swift and unexpected move, the Fremen suddenly pop up on the rankings… and, to everyone’s shock, they take the number one spot.
So when, in Villeneuve’s movie, the utterly incompetent Harkonnen forces—led by Feyd-Rautha, who has yet to grasp the basics of military strategy and is also unpredictable and completely insane—start sweeping the Fremen back south like a housewife herding chickens into the coop, the most fitting word for it might just be INFURIATING.
I’ve Seen the Future, Brother…
Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking sci-fi saga—or at least the first three books—has one major flaw. It never really explains why the Fremen’s god-like, future-seeing prophet couldn’t prevent the jihad he spent most of his time trying to avoid. Which is absurd, because all he had to do was say, “Jihad bad, got it? Everybody back to the nearest sand dune, NOW!”
At the end of Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve provides a simple, believable answer—one that, however, contradicts the book quite a bit. After all, he who controls the spice controls the universe… But the Fremen board the ships, fire up the engines, and set out to crush anyone who doesn’t approve of the universe’s new emperor. Instead of patiently waiting for everyone to flock to Arrakis, begging for spice.
Another problem with the jihad is that space travel is the exclusive monopoly of the Spacing Guild, which operates as an independent political entity. Only their specially trained, spice-enhanced Navigators are capable of faster-than-light travel—and, not to mention, their ticket prices are insane. The Guild’s enormous transport ships orbit planets, and they only send down relatively tiny shuttles to the surface.
Now, in contrast, the only vehicle the Fremen have a driving license for is the sandworm. It has exactly one gear. And it can only turn very gently—in a wide arc… One thing’s for sure: I wouldn’t let a single Fremen anywhere near a spaceship cockpit!
The future is not too bright
Frank Herbert wrote six more sequels to his brilliant novel. One’s worse than the other. Nowhere near the original. But perhaps the worst of them all is Dune Messiah, the second book, which makes one thing painfully clear: if you know everything about the future, it’s exactly the same as knowing nothing at all. So yeah, the whole thing sucks.
On the plus side, this opens up fantastic opportunities for Denis Villeneuve, who—according to reports—is already working on the third film. And since Dune: Part Two was, let’s say, mangled from the perspective of book fans, there’s a solid chance that no matter how badly he screws up Dune Messiah, it can only be an improvement.
Final Verdict:
If you haven’t read the book: 8.5/10
If you have read the book: 6.5/10
Dune: Part Two (2024), science-fiction (IMDb)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve. With Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem.
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Review of the first film:
Dune: Part One (2023)
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Review of Frank Herbert’s book series:
1. Dune (The movies Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two are based on this book.)
2. Dune Messiah
3. Children of Dune
* In the mockumentary film Borat, the Romanian Roma village of Glod served as the setting for the Kazakh village of Kuczek (Ed.)