Dune: Part 2

Hey. Quick word to say that part 2 of Dune delivered on exactly everything it needed to in order to function as a satisfactory and deserving conclusion to the adaptation started in part 1. Full marks Denis, the indisputable master of modern sci-fi has struck again and fully cemented the position of this film franchise alongside the scant few that breathe the rarefied air up here at the pinnacle of Hollywood literary adaptations.

Okay, that was more than one word. My bad. And if you're down here you may be interested in a few more. I consider both Dune movies to be masterpieces, fundamentally accurate representations of the best parts of the source material they adapt. Taken together they aren't a perfect retelling of Dune, but the key here is adaptation. In the end I am of the opinion that, much as with the only adaptation of Lord of the Rings that matters, everything they changed was an improvement. Adapting older literary material is always going to come with opportunities to enhance the general sensibilities of the work for modern audiences, and things like the rebuild of Arwen's character are nothing but good as far as I'm concerned.

The main change Dune part 2 makes over the book is not terribly dissimilar from the example I just used, in fact, given that Chani's character gets a similar set of improvements. She's given a greater level of agency, her relationship with Paul is set up more naturally and feels much less like a byproduct of fanaticism. In fact, Chani herself now has a healthy skepticism of Paul and his position, willing or unwilling, as the Lisan Al-Gaib, this messianic figure that is, after all, simply a product of Bene Gesserit meddling.

This serves a storytelling purpose, helping the audience understand very clearly that the Lisan Al-Gaib is a fabrication to be used for the control of a large population established centuries ago by the Bene Gesserit Missionaria Protectiva. But it also results in Chani feeling like a much more self-aware individual than she did in the book. In the end I feel that, with this conclusion, Denis Villeneuve's Dune honestly does a better job of fronting the themes that Frank Herbert included in his book than the book itself. Overall I suspect that Herbert would really like the movies.

There's not much else to say. Was the movie perfect? As with the first, no. But the scale of the thing, the quality of the production, and incredible storytelling and attention to detail, was not lost on me. It sells the image of Paul Atreides as a tragic figure even better than the book did, and manages the unique distinction of actually making me want an adaptation of Dune Messiah. A feat not even managed by the book Dune Messiah, I might add. There were little issues and errors of course, but the only noteworthy complaint I had was, once again, with the music. Hans, my dude. Denis does an amazing job with the visual storytelling, but I'm watching a movie with dialogue in it. That means I want to hear the dialogue, and once again there were a few moments when I straight up couldn't because of your noise.

Chill, my dude.