Dune: Part Two is a monumental feat of filmmaking. A transcendent experience that plunges you into a world so richly crafted that you feel truly immersed. Everyone is bringing their A-game, and Villeneuve’s extraordinary visuals MUST be seen in IMAX.
If it seemed impossible for Denis Villeneuve to follow up his 2021 masterwork ‘Dune”, he is able to surpass it by leaps and bounds in this 2024 sequel.
The visual language of this film is nearly unprecedented. It is so deeply alien and foreign, that there are so many images in this film which like you are experiencing something for the first time. The 1.43:1 scenes in IMAX are especially staggering. Villeneuve is skilled at making his audience feel incredibly small compared to these behemoth figures, often placing his characters as tiny dots with a massive creature in the foreground.
The performances in the film are strong all around. The standout is Timothee Chalamet, his character gets a great arc of development and that’s sold through the nuance of his performance. This really feels like a step up from anything he’s done before and he totally owns the importance of that role Zendaya is fantastic, very layered, and provides a great counter-point to the story and really challenges some of the core themes through a vivid and very expressive performance. While the rest of the cast is terrifying and totally committed to their characters
The story is grand, monumental and extremely layered, but like the first movie, it takes its time. The pacing is intricate and can feel quite slow at times, with stretches of mostly visual and allegorical storytelling rather than being exposition heavy, but this strengthens the atmosphere of the film. Much of the dialogue is made up of prophetic religious speech spoken in this vert solemn voice, but there are enough character moments which builds those relationships to let you know how people are really feeling.
Dune: Part Two is undeniably a crowd pleaser and a sci-fi film that will transport audiences to a cinematic journey they won’t forget. This one is worth seeing in cinemas, and especially in IMAX if you can.
