Dune 2: Finally, an Epic Story Told Well on the Big Screen

A brief movie review

Having read both JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Frank Herbert’s first Dune trilogy, I know there are some books of such depth and complexity that no movie can ever successfully capture more than a good, entertaining retelling that will always miss some reader’s favorite parts of the book.

I also know that, as Ursula K. LeGuin once said,

Science fiction is not about the future. It’s about the present.

Dune, Part 2 certainly meets both these criteria. It picks up where Part 1 left off, about halfway through the plot of Frank Herbert’s first novel of the trilogy, at the betrayal and downfall of House Atreides to House Harkonnen with a big assist from the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV Corrino, who sent several battalions of crack Sardaukar troops.

I won’t give away any plot spoilers, but it’s safe to say the movie begins with the two survivors of the Atreides family, now Duke Paul and his mother Jessica, who is very importantly pregnant, meeting up with Stilgar’s band of Fremen, determined to exploit the religion planted in his people by Jessica’s secretive and powerful Bene Gesserit Order of incredibly talented and manipulative women.

If you’re not lost yet, you’re familiar with the Dune universe. If you are, now you have just a slight taste of the complex world galactic quadrant, dependent on oil spice to run everything that US Empire hegemony Imperial feudal civilization needs to keep existing that Herbert created.

His Imperium’s structure is closer to the Holy Roman Empire than anything else, with powerful aristocratic families, trade guilds, and religious orders vying for power, control, and influence over each other. The devious politics smacks of both Renaissance Italy and the machinations of the CIA and MI-6.

Unfortunately, there’s just no way a movie can explain how all of this stuff works, much less how it came about in the first place. For that, you really have to read the book, and it’s a great book, so it won’t hurt you if you do.

Regardless, the exploitation of the indigenous Fremen, whose wealth in spice is being extracted without their consent and in spite of their opposition, will be quickly recognized by anyone who lives in a country with oil that the American Empire covets. It might have a tendency to make one…slightly cynical to members of the exploiting classes seeking refuge, admirably captured in this scene,

Now, let’s get to the most important part: Is the movie worth seeing? Is it entertaining? Does is have a good plot? Do the actors do a good job? Is it directed well? Are the visuals and sound done well?

In short, Yes to all!

I’m happy to say I spent less than $20 for a ticket, a hot dog, and a beer, and feel well-satisfied by the movie. It moves at a good pace with enough slowdowns in the action not to lose the viewer, and to explain the motivations of the characters. It’s a good plot, and IMHO all of the actors’ strengths were well-matched to their roles; the mark of a good director.

Some appearances were changed from those described in the books. The Harkonnens, for example, all have red hair in the books but are hideously bald, even the women, in the movie. Since red hair runs in my family I have no problem with that particular bit of artistic license.

The giant sandworms that can grow up to a kilometer long and who shit the precious spice are great.

You know you’re having a bad day when you see things like that coming your way, that’s for sure.

One of Frank Herbert’s most intriguing creations was the ornithopter, a sort of helicopter with bird-like wings. In the Dune movies, they look more like dragonflies, but they work.

There’s a lot of massive scale in the movie, but the characters are all at least understandable, be they manipulative sociopathic powermongers, revolutionary freedom fighters, or just people who would much rather be doing something else caught up in tremendous events.

Dune 2 is the second half of an effort to bring and epic story to movie audiences, and for what it’s worth I think they did about the best they could be expected to do in 2 and a half hours.

Which brings me to my biggest complaint. Movies this long need a bloodydamned intermission!

Other than that, I think this movie is definitely worth seeing. I hope the review helps. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.