The greatest sin a movie can commit is being boring. It’s a capital offence in the world of entertainment — unforgivable and unpardonable. Special effects, star power, gargantuan budgets — none of it matters if a film fails to captivate its audience. And against all odds, against the grand spectacle and sci-fi splendour promised by its acclaimed predecessor, Dune: Part Two (read Sergio’s full review here) manages to be exactly that: a plodding, arid slog through dreary desert sands as flavourless as unsalted crackers and boring.
With a visionary director like Denis Villeneuve at the helm, expectations for a film are always going to be high. Like a mirage shimmering tauntingly on the horizon, this sequel promises to be even grander than its award-winning prequel. However, for some reason, Frank Herbert’s mythos continue to prove that, perhaps, the world of Dune really was unfilmable.
Dune Is Not A Traditional Franchise
There’s an ongoing trend that dictates that any film — no matter how successful it is — must become part of a cinematic universe. At the very least, Villeneuve and co. had a blueprint to follow, thanks to Herbert’s novels. Still, in the face of Dune’s smashing success, the marketing machine whirred into overdrive with the sequel. Dune: Part Two had to be the next big thing — whatever it takes. Even if that means deviating from the source material a bit.
Frank Herbert’s vision was a deliberate subversion of traditional hero’s journey narratives and blockbuster adventure tropes. By stripping Dune: Part Two of its weighty, morally grey foundations and repackaging it as a Marvel-esque franchise starter, the filmmakers sacrificed depth for broad appeal. The result is a glossy but soulless spectacle that offers all the epic scale and sumptuous production values one could want but with little of the thematic heft to give it resonance.
All of that could be forgiven, however, if the movie was at least entertaining. As it stands now, we have two flat leads with zero chemistry, which ultimately brings the movie to one sadly undeniable conclusion: Dune: Part Two is just plain boring.
Of Spice and Yawns
I always try to avoid calling a movie “boring.” That’s too broad of a term to call a film. For many viewers, Christopher Nolan’s dense, dialogue-heavy masterpiece Oppenheimer could be considered “boring.” But there’s a difference between willfully cerebral monotony with a purpose and a film that’s just… dull. Unfortunately, Dune: Part Two falls firmly into the latter category; its inert storytelling is as lifeless as the arid wastelands it portrays, leaving no possible adjective to describe it other than boring.
The plot meanders aimlessly from one loosely connected set piece to the next, with no cohesive narrative thrust to propel it forward. Storylines are raised tantalizingly only to be unceremoniously dropped, while others are stretched gossamer-thin across the bloated run time. At the centre of it all is a curiously disengaged Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, sleepwalking through the hero’s journey with all the passion of a college student showing up for an 8 am lecture.
Why Dune: Part Two Is Considered Boring:
- It’s style over substance. The film is beautifully shot, but the story is average at best.
- The lead is uninteresting. In fact, you could draw many similarities between the character of Paul and The Matrix‘s Neo. Both are reluctant messiahs who fall in love and fight in an apocalyptic war. In other words, we’ve seen all this before.
- The majority of the film is focused on the strange lure from the world, which never really adds to the narrative or the characters. Riding on sandworms is fun, but spending an hour on it is way too much.
- The 3rd act is the strongest part of the entire film. It’s just sad that it takes nearly 3 hours to get there.
- The love story is awful.
Part Three
There’s still hope for the series, though. If Part Two did one thing right, that’s understanding that Paul is not a hero. There might be a chance that, by the time the inevitable “Part Three” comes around, the series finally finds its footing as the solid subversion of traditional perspectives that Frank Herbert envisioned.
It’s either that, or we’ll get a repeat of 1984’s Dune.
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Dune: Part Two |
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Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. |
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| Studio: Legendary Pictures |
| Running Time: 2h 46m |
| Release Date: February 6, 2024 (Auditorio Nacional); March 1, 2024 (United States) |
| Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem |
| Director: Denis Villeneuve |
| Writers: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts |
| Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama |
| Box Office: $384.2 million |
