Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two (2024)

[Dave]

AKA Villeneuve's Duly

Anyone seen this already and want to begin a discussion? (use spoiler tags for the first week or so.) I haven't been into the cinema for almost a year (for various different reasons, including health related reasons, but nothing SFF has really stood out either) and I want to know is this worth it?

Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

I'll be good to have a little more of the story in film but the first part of Villeneuve's Dune divided opinions on SFF Chronicles:

Villeneuve's Dune: Part One (2019)

This has kind of gotten by me. Looks like Denis Villeneuve is casting Dune and I saw somewhere mention of production start date of March. Now not surprised , Dune , should have more buzz appeal than Blade Runner 2049* did. (Tho Villeneuve says in interviews that Alcon did marketing surveys for...

www.sffchronicles.com

 

[Swank]

Dave, what's that quote from? Strangely, I've never felt that Paul is motivated by revenge.

 

[Dave]

Dave, what's that quote from? Strangely, I've never felt that Paul is motivated by revenge.

It's what Google gave me in a side-panel if I search "Dune". It isn't referenced, but it is likely to be from one of their "verified reviewers". Sorry I admit, I didn't read it before posting and thought it was an official film release synopsis. I agree with you that "revenge" isn't what motivates him.

The official website says only:

Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavours to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

Neither is he really facing a choice "between love and and the fate of the universe" because love isn't much use without a universe to hold it within. From what I remember reading (and it has been a long, long time) he feels what anyone would feel when confronted with the irresistible truth of their own destiny.

However, Imdb has this:

Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed.....

So, it looks like the Google reviewer simply put both together.

 

[hitmouse]

Dave, what's that quote from? Strangely, I've never felt that Paul is motivated by revenge.

I imagine he is a bit irritated by the Harkonnens even if he is too cool to show it.

 

[Swank]

I imagine he is a bit irritated by the Harkonnens even if he is too cool to show it.

Certainly, but the character is not driven by anger. And his family was not from a class of victims - the Atreides are also predators.

 

[Foxbat]

Dave, what's that quote from? Strangely, I've never felt that Paul is motivated by revenge.

I agree. I think revenge is far too simplistic motivation for this character. I always saw him as driven by a sense of destiny and family duty but simultaneously crippled and trapped by that same destiny whilst haunted by the terrible personal fate that may await him.

So far, the reviews I've read seem to be fairly positive.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

The Harkonnens are as much an existential threat to the Fremen as they are to Paul. They need dealing with irrespective of the motivation. I would say that Paul seems to transcend much of the petty human stuff.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Paul fights the Harkonnen and Emperor to liberate the Fremen. Even if they hadnt been attacked by the Harkonnen, I suspect that he would have eventually rebelled against his own family.

 

[Foxbat]

I don't think Paul would have so much rebelled against his own family and would more likely have simply evolved beyond the family power structures that held humanity in place. Liberating the Fremen, in my opinion, is simply a stepping stone to the future in which even those desert warriors would fade into insignificance - simply becoming more meat for the grinder that would be the Jihad.

His position as a quasi-messiah would have been enough for him to establish his power base. It's made clear with the line that he who controls the spice controls the universe. Paul's ultimate control of this resource would mean that his family power base, like all other family power bases might be tolerated in the new world but they would never really have any true form of control.

But isn't this the beauty of a good book? Where we all can draw our own conclusions

 

[Swank]

Paul fights the Harkonnen and Emperor to liberate the Fremen. Even if they hadnt been attacked by the Harkonnen, I suspect that he would have eventually rebelled against his own family.

Paul sees the Fremen as a resource, not a charity. He would have left Arrakis with smugglers if he wasn't invested in flipping the power back to the Atreides.

 

[ctg]

“This is a dream come true,” Taylor-Joy said of being cast in the film during a live interview on WB’s TikTok (via Variety). “The books are incredible, but with this cast and with Denis, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

As Jessica’s daughter, Alia becomes a member of the Bene Gesserit, the religious order with even more power than CHOAM. However, because Jessica drank the Water of Life — a liquid that highly-trained Bene Gesserit consume when they become Reverend Mothers, giving them all of the memories of their genetic ancestors — she has the consciousness of an adult, even in the womb. While that genetic memory makes Alia an abomination among other Bene Gesserit, it also makes her a powerful ally to Paul, particularly in the second Herbert novel, Dune Messiah.

As a baby with the mind of an adult (in fact, many generations of adults), Alia poses a challenge to anyone trying to adapt Herbert’s work. To the surprise of no one, David Lynch got around it by leaning into his weird instincts and casting a nine-year-old Alicia Witt as Alia and overdubbing her voice. The 2000 Syfy channel miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune just asks child actor Laura Burton to play an adult-minded character to unconvincing effect.

At 27, Anya Taylor-Joy is significantly older than her predecessors in the role. But as demonstrated in Last Night in Soho and The Witch, she excels at playing ethereal qualities. So even if we get an aged-up Alia in Dune: Part Two, hardly the only strange thing in the movie or the only divergence from the source material, Taylor-Joy as a performer can certainly embody what makes Alia so strange to both audiences and the Bene Gesserit.

Dune 2 Just Spoiled One of Its Top Secret Characters

Surprise! Anya Taylor-Joy is in Dune: Part Two and she all but confirmed which major Frank Herbert character she's playing in the movie...

www.denofgeek.com

She's in the latest trailers, but Alia doesn't say anything as that's clipped out. You only see her appearance, and if you don't know it, you won't know it's her, but you'll look at her as another blue-eyed being.

 

[ctg]

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 2 First Reactions Are In

Here's what critics are saying about Dune: Part Two!

www.denofgeek.com

 

[BAYLOR]

Im glad that both of these films got made.

 

[ctg]

Im glad that both of these films got made.

Me too. The rumours are talking about the Messiah crew getting ready to start moving on the production. I'm saying it now, it's going to be a weird film for a lot of people.

 

[Foxbat]

I'm hoping that the movies are successful enough that somebody finally brings God Emperor to the big screen. Next to Dune itself, I think this is the best and most underrated of the books.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I'm hoping that the movies are successful enough that somebody finally brings God Emperor to the big screen. Next to Dune itself, I think this is the best and most underrated of the books.

Aka God Awful of Dune (sorry)

 

[Swank]

I'm hoping that the movies are successful enough that somebody finally brings God Emperor to the big screen. Next to Dune itself, I think this is the best and most underrated of the books.

Got a lot of movies to make before Mamoa gets old.

 

[Vince W]

I was disappointed with the first part so part 2 will have to be exceptional to impress me. As for adapting Messiah, they should avoid that. It completely tears apart Paul’s hero myth and would only upset many people.

 

[BAYLOR]

I was disappointed with the first part so part 2 will have to be exceptional to impress me. As for adapting Messiah, they should avoid that. It completely tears apart Paul’s hero myth and would only upset many people.

I came away from Dune Messiah hating both Paul, Chani and the Fremen .

 

[Swank]

At some point, it has to be okay that the protagonist of a book isn't the fantasy version of yourself and the story isn't action wish fulfillment.