The Stream: A slow burn to what feels like a predictable ending.

The Big Screen: Visual effects, production design and costumes are a marvel.

The Final Bill: A beautiful movie covering up a predictable story that goes nowhere.

– S2S: Movie Review and Trip Fontaine
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Frank Herbert
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler,
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours 39 minutes
Production Companies: Legendary Entertainment, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Villeneuve Films
Platform: Released in theaters March 1, 2024
Notable Trailers: If, The Watchers

Welcome back to Spice, Streamers! The long-awaited Dune: Part Two has finally been released in theaters. If you’ve seen the first installment, then you know this movie follows Timothy Chalamet as Paul Atreides with his summer warpath fling Chani (Zendaya) slowly avenging his family’s name. Paul is faced with the choice of love it or list it as the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Is the prophecy real? Can an outsider sincerely lead the Fremen to freedom? Sci-fi and worm riding hijinks ensue.

Obviously, if you’ve seen the first movie, you know this movie is made to be seen on the big screen. The visual effects, the giant fight sequences, the vast scenery and everything that comes with it is just meant to be seen on a grand scale. In a way, this movie succeeds in this facet. I’d say the dichotomy between the worlds is displayed a bit better in the first movie compared to this one, but either way the constant sandscape is also interesting to see – a bit monotonous but fine.

As for the plot and execution of the central storyline, this movie is a predictable slow burn. Seriously, the movie is almost 3 hours long, and it feels like nothing major occurs until 1 hour 45 minutes in. Even at that you know exactly what’s coming. There are so many scenes that could be cut out, or just better explored. It’s hard to sit for this long and then the movie starts to get interesting when it’s’ just about to END! Talk about feeling gipped!

On top of that, Trip and I differ but there are a few things about the story that felt forced to me. There’s a prophecy we have to make come true but everything the main character does is extra regular to the people of the culture. I think the film fails to show how special the character is in order for this prophecy to be believable. I’m not sure if that’s just a problem with the story or the direction of the film itself. Honestly, the issue may be the difficulty in adapting this book to the big screen. Lastly, the cast itself was pretty good. There wasn’t really anyone to write home about, but there are a lot of big names that work pretty well together as they whisper to each other in the dunes.

Long story short, Dune: Part Two looks just as good as the first installment and gives you only slightly a tad more action. The movie is nice to look at but also hard to focus on for nearly 3 hours. You have to see this on the big screen because of the production values, but the story is predictable and somewhat poorly executed. Grab a bowl of popcorn and a matinee ticket to Dune Part Two.