Dune is a tricky story for me to review. I saw the 1984 version in the theater, and I knew there was a dense story hidden beneath all that messy storytelling and mediocre (even by 1984 standards) special effects. I picked up the novel, blew through it in record time, and felt I lived through something so powerful I had to continue with the remaining three novels available at the time. I was drawn to Dune not only for the science fiction elements but also for the overt religious messages about the nature of prophecy, holy wars, and messianic figures. Considering the story now, after I’ve read far more SF, studied more history, and engaged with both mythological and feminist storytelling, and I can see the obvious use of the White Savior myth, the prejudicial undertones about “savage,” nomadic people, and the assumed patriarchal ordering of a society that is supposed to exist 10,000 years in the future. On one side, the Dune stories are incredibly important to my own youth, especially to my love of storytelling; on the other, the narrative’s shortcomings are only becoming more obvious with time.
Into all of those personal feelings drops one of the most technically astounding and beautiful films I’ve seen in years. Watching Dune: Part Two on Imax proved why the huge-screen format exists, to give filmmakers a massive pallet upon which they can portray something that is truly larger than life. The desert is alive, the music resonates through the senses, and Paul’s journey from exiled prince to messianic ruler feels overwhelming, especially as sandworm-riding Fremen crash through the screen and storm into our very theater. To say I was blown away is an understatement.
It’s obvious Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner: 2049, Arrival) and his writing partner on these two Dune films, Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Passengers), worked hard to update some of the most cringeworthy aspects of Frank Herbert’s novel. No longer do the Fremen speak such an obvious descendent-language of Arabic, and this movie’s Paul never refers to his holy war as a “Jihad.” The planetary ecologist in Dune: Part One was gender-flipped to a woman; in this film, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh – Black Widow, Little Women) takes a more prominent role in her emperor-father’s political machinations, elevating her from a secretary to a mid-level power player; the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood plays a significant role in all power-plays throughout the empire; Chani (Zendaya – Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Greatest Showman) is shown as a ferocious warrior capable of leading desert raids against harvesters; and Margot Fenring’s (Lea Seydoux – No Time to Die, The French Dispatch) husband is completely omitted, allowing her character more autonomy of actions. Most notably, Chani refuses to simply accept Paul’s political wedding to Princess Irulan, as she did in the novel and the two previous screen adaptations – which is good. Women in the US do not need to accept their husband’s harem-mates, and there is no reason to think they would have to do so 10,000 years in the future.
For all those choices the filmmakers made to modernize the characters and the story, they are still building upon a 60-year-old template that relegates women to secondary roles and glorifies the revolutionary power of an off-world savior rallying and leading native tribes to victory over violent colonialists. It is made only slightly more palatable by portraying the Bene Gesserit prophecies that point to Paul’s messianic rise as nothing more than political machinations of a priestly caste that he is simply using to his own advantage – but the outsider “from the stars” is still the white savior rescuing the poor natives who are incapable of rescuing themselves.
Overall, this Dune: Part Two adaptation is a phenomenal piece of cinematic storytelling that is aesthetically astounding. The filmmakers paint the canvas of the senses to overwhelming beauty, even when portraying the villainous Harkonnen on their harsh, black-and-white home planet. The film hits all the highest notes of the novel to perfection, everything from Paul and Chani’s love story, which takes up most of the first half of the film, to the overwhelming power of the Fremen riding their sandworms to military victory. Where the novel shows the greatest signs of aging, the filmmakers have attempted to modernize the narrative, but we’re still left with a story of men ruling a galaxy by force, women using their sexuality and political machinations to exert any crumbs of influence over the men in their lives, and a colonialist attitude toward nomadic “savages” in need of an outside savior. Is it uplifting? No. Does it do justice to the original source material? Absolutely, including updating some parts to make it more palatable to a modern audience. Is it worth seeing? From a cinematic perspective, absolutely - and on Imax.
Regarding Bechdels, the film falls short: 1) Yes, there are more than 2 women in the film – in fact, the filmmakers made an effort to highlight women whenever possible; 2) The women in the film speak to each other on occasion; 3) However, when those women speak to each other they are almost always discussing the male protagonist – Paul, or the military leader Muad-dib – and their relationship to him.