Details from IMDB:
Dune: Part Two
Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Initial Thoughts:
I’ve never read any of the “Dune” books, so my only familiarity with the setting is the first movie, what I can remember of the one from the 80s, and what I’ve heard about the books. So I was really looking to see this one in theatres and of course in IMAX.
Main Points:
There’s no arguing with the importance of the Dune story/books/movies. Star Wars and many other properties got their ideas from this and this film shows you more how deep the story goes. That said I just can’t do super-long reviews (at least very rarely) so I’m not doing that here, the world is rich and complex and I’m not the one to explain it. The acting, special effects, music, story, dialogue and everything else are on point with this movie. It’s so nice to get a blockbuster film in the middle of winter and that’s what this is. When the giant worm shows up (this is in the preview, so not a spoiler) and my seat started to shake a bit from the sound I was so in!
I think Josh Brolin said it best when he was interviewed about this movie (I’m paraphrasing of course), “the first movie is an appetizer, this is the main course.” So much more is done with the characters here, especially Paul Atreides, that was much more drawn into the world of Dune than I was in the first film. While I think the runtime was a little long (almost 3 hours), I would say it could be tightened up by 10-15 minutes is all. I love a good action/fight scene and this movie has that it spades. The gladiator scene in particular, which was filmed in infra-red and looks amazing, and the knife fight at the end are really well done and show the brutality of violence without all the gore.
Final Thoughts:
I’d highly recommend seeing this in IMAX for the full experience. Lots of times I’d say that IMAX is a rip-off but here’s it’s very much worth it for the sound alone. I highly recommend this movie, especially if you’ve seen the first one, in fact I don’t think you would get nearly as much enjoyment if you have seen part 1. Ages 14+, mostly for violence and blood, please don’t bring your kids to this movie. I give it a very solid 8.5 out of 10. For the first time in my life I am excited about a Dune franchise and that’s a very good thing.