Movie Review

Visually stunning Dune: Part Two serves up oft-impenetrable story

Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya in Dune: Part Two.

Photo by Niko Tavernise

When Denis Villenueve’s remake of Dunedebuted in 2021, it was widely praised for its cinematography and grand-scale vision. But it also featured a complex story not helped by the fact that Villenueve had split the original book into two parts. Dune: Part Twohas finally arrived, and with it brings both the good and bad of the first film.

Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mom, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), having survived the attack by the House Harkonnen, are now embedded with the native Fremen in the vast desert on the planet Arrakis. Some Fremen, including Chani (Zendaya), are suspicious of the newcomers, but Stilgar (Javier Bardem) is convinced that Paul is the long-prophesied messiah, viewing everything he does – even renouncing the idea that he’s the messiah – as worthy of adulation.

Part Two also introduces a host of new characters, including the elderly Emperor (Christopher Walken); his doting daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh); Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), the ambitious nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård); and Lady Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux), a scheming member of the highly-religious Bene Gesserit. All of these people and more play a part in either helping or hurting Paul’s rise to power.

There is no argument that Villenueve knows how to create a visually-stunning film, even one that is as CGI-heavy as this. He and cinematographer Greig Fraser (who won an Oscar for Dune: Part One) bring out all the tricks this time around, showcasing a landscape that could otherwise be monotonous in myriad interesting ways. A switch to black-and-white makes a mid-film fight sequence pop, and scenes with hundreds or thousands of people in them feel appropriately epic.

But once again, all of that visual splendor is in service of a story that is less than enthralling. Even though the nearly three-hour film would seem to give Villenueve and returning co-writer Jon Spaihts enough time to properly lay out the plot, they still choose to skip over seemingly key parts of certain characters’ arcs. This is especially true of the new characters, most of whom fail to make an impression, and even those who do are stuck with one-note journeys.

This seems to be because Villenueve is more interested in setting up future Dune movies than dealing with the one at hand. For those who may not know, Frank Herbert wrote six Dune books (with 18 more written by his son after his death), so a full-blown Dune Cinematic Universe is possible. There are a lot of allusions to things that will come in the future, including the life of Paul’s unborn sister (seen in flash-forward form as Anya Taylor-Joy), but they come at the expense of understanding the here-and-now, most notably Paul’s transition to a god-like figure.

Despite the story lack, Chalamet is a compelling presence in the lead role, ably demonstrating why he’s become one of the go-to young actors in Hollywood. The same goes for Zendaya, who finally gets a chance to shine after barely appearing in the first film. Butler goes over-the-top in a good way for his role, but Pugh is given next-to-nothing to do, a shame for someone with her talent. Bardem, Ferguson, and Josh Brolin make sure the older adults come off well, too.

There is no shortage of sights and sounds to wow the senses in Dune: Part Two; the gigantic sandworms alone are worth the price of admission. But when the accompanying story becomes borderline incomprehensible, that visual feast winds up feeling hollow.

---

Dune: Part Two opens in theaters on March 1.

movies film

Movie Review

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

---

Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

movies film