Since he first part of Dune (2021), Paul (Timothee Chalamet) and mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson—about as tough a lady as ever depicted besides Lady Macbeth) join the native tribe of Fremen on sandy planet Arrakis after being clobbered by the family of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard). We know more than ambition is involved, viz., spice, a mind-opening drug and fuel (damn good stuff, I’d guess).
The Freman leader, Stilgar (Javier Bardem—always room for more of his talent), believes Paul is their Messiah to defeat the Harkonnen and their eventual new leader, Feyed (Austin Butler, sans hair and guitar but with a very bald head and bloody cudgel). Paul readily assimilates with Fremen and totally assimilates with Freman Chani (Zendaya),
Paul may be an outsider, but then so was Christ, except that Paul (and Biblical Paul) is reluctant and Christ not so much. With romance developing between Paul and Chani, the allusion to Christ steps aside except for those who think there’s more to the Jesus and Mary Magdalene friendship. Anyway, it’s classic salvation by an outsider ( consider, if you will, the US and Vietnam).
The special effects are what makes this epic film about as beautiful as any you will ever see, which includes riding monstrous worms and a tank bigger and more nimble than any you have ever seen. While the landscape has an inherent greyness much of the time, director Dennis Villeneuve invites comparison to David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia from the blistering landscapes to the blue eyes. Even the worm’s magic elixir is arrestingly blue.
The conflicting interests go beyond Arrakis as Emperor Shaddam IV (underused Christopher Walken) and his hip daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), involve themselves in the dynamic and dangerous political scene. As for the Spice, the Harkonnen clan have already begun renewing production while Fremen want the opposite- a hot mess.
The visual splendor and intricate politics return in yet a third epical rendering, Dune: Messiah. I, for one, can easily last another three hours.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take (recently listed by Feedspot as two of the ten best NPR Movie Podcasts) out of WCBE 90.5 FM, Columbus, Ohio. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com