Dune: Part Two is one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year and for good reason. With Part One, director Denis Villeneuve brought forth a mesmerizing vision of a psychedelic war epic full of action, drama, and tragedy, while remaining faithful to one of the best and most complex sci-fi novels ever published. Frank Herbert‘s world of scheming, manipulations, combat, prophecies, and drug-induced dreaming comes to life in the desert sands of Villeneuve’s movie. But that film ended on a cliffhanger, with Timothy Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, the promised messiah of Arrakis, taking only his first steps toward his destiny.
The sequel, then, is the story of Paul’s rise to power, as he must rally the Fremen for his war against House Harkonnen after the destruction of his own great house. It’s also the story of his love affair with Zendaya’s Chani, who will play a much bigger role in Part Two than she did in the first film. It’ll also bring in Paul’s counterpart, the Harkonnen heir Feyd-Rautha, played by Austin Butler, and will introduce Christopher Walken as the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV of the Imperium (what perfect casting!) and Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, who seems to play a more direct role in the events of the story than she did in the books.
There are of course a few other characters and unexpected twists yet to be revealed, especially since Villeneuve has already confirmed that Part Two is meant to set up a future adaptation of the second Herbert book, Dune Messiah, which the director hopes to make down the line.
“The Dune book ends with the beginning of something that is out of control, and I thought this was a very powerful ending. I feel that both movies complete the adaptation of the book, and I feel very good about that. When people ask me, is there a world where I could do Messiah? Yes…” the director recently told Vanity Fair. But don’t expect that third movie any time soon. According to Variety, Villeneuve confirmed last December during a press conference that the script “is not finished. It will take a little time.”
That said, while we have a bit of a wait ahead of us for the true end of this sci-fi trilogy, we don’t have to wait to hear what critics think about Dune: Part Two. With the world premiere and press screenings taking place this week, we finally have some first reactions to give us an idea of how Villeneuve fared the second time around on Arrakis. Spoilers: things are looking good for a third film as far as critics are concerned. Let’s just hope the movie gets the box office returns to match…
You can read what critics are saying about the film below:
Dune: Part Two opens in theaters on March 1. You can check out the full schedule of upcoming movies coming in 2024 here.
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