Dune: Part Two Review: Denis Villeneuve’s sequel is bigger, bolder and better

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) are at the centre of Dune: Part Two. ()

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NO MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUT DUNE: PART TWO

Denis Villeneuve’s anticipated continuation of his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 sci-fi novel has more action, more sandworms and more Zendaya than its predecessor.

Picking up minutes after Part One, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) unite with the Arrakis-native Fremen on a quest of revenge against House Harkonnen who destroyed his family.

Zendaya’s character Chani, teased in the first film, takes centre stage in Part Two becoming the heart and soul of the story. She not only connects Paul to the Fremen culture but also serves as the film’s moral compass – questioning the validity of Paul’s accession to a messiah figure to the people of Dune.

Austin Butler, a newcomer to the series, is a clear stand out as the equal parts bald and psychotic Feyd-Rautha, the nephew to Stellen Skarsgård’s gravitationally challenged villain Baron Harkonnen. Butler brings a dangerous livewire energy to the film that recalls Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight, acting as a perfect foil to Timothée Chalamet’s calm and composed Paul.

In contrast to the nearly faithful adaptation of the first half of Herbert’s novel in the initial film, Part Two takes more creative liberties translating the source material. These departures and additions from the original text seamlessly integrate with the Dune vision, feeling better suited to a film than a straight adaptation could. Think Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy (not The Hobbit).

Unlike the first film’s sudden ending, Part Two’s conclusion feels far more complete, leaving the door open for the possibility for a third film based on Herbert’s follow up novel, Dune Messiah (which Villeneuve has teased).

If Part One had the task of being the elegant world builder – Part Two is Villeneuve’s emotional, large scale war epic. With jaw-dropping visuals and unrivalled battle sequences, the vistas of the desert planet of Arrakis are so overwhelming that Dune: Part Two begs to be seen on the largest screen possible.