Dune: Part Two positions the series to be the new Star Wars
Dune: Part Two positions the series to be the new Star Wars
In the months since its release, Dune: Part Two has remained an unimpeachable work of sci-fi genius.

Reel Impressions is The NewsHouse’s weekly film review. Contributors Francesco Desiderio and Travis Newbery cover everything from new releases to trending classics.
Sci-fi can be a tricky genre to work in because of the many bold concepts it wields in any given work. With every new idea comes exposition and world-building; the bigger the leap from reality, the bigger the cinematic hurdle that stands between the filmmakers’ ideas and audiences’ understanding.
When Dune came out in 2021, it made a splash as one of the most technically achieving and well-executed sci-fi movies in recent memory, and it went on to win a bevy of industry awards, including six Oscars. In its opening moments, however, it explicitly established the nature of its story with a title card that unexpectedly said “Dune: Part One.”
Dune, with obvious intent, leaves viewers wanting more. It spends much of its runtime outlining its complex network of characters, history, politics, science and mythos. Little is resolved by the ending, where we hear the words “This is only the beginning” just before the credits roll.
So when Dune: Part Two finally made its way onto the big screen earlier this year, naturally it had extremely high potential. With the many foundational but unfamiliar sci-fi elements now having been introduced and explored, it had every chance to take the story into truly unexplored territory.
Comparisons have been made to The Empire Strikes Back, and I’m here to say they’re correct. Dune: Part Two is one of the best sci-fi movies in quite a long time. Generational is a word I sometimes consider using to describe it.
The movie centers on Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a young prince who finds himself at the climax of a centuries-long battle with rival Great House Harkonnen. He’s still fresh on the planet Arrakis, his father has just been killed, and now he and his mother must assimilate with the native Fremen people if he wants to survive the inhospitable desert and mount his revenge on the Harkonnens.
What follows is an unforgiving tale of young love, the fight against oppression and Paul’s struggle to accept his true destiny as an all-powerful messiah figure, all told on an epic scale. Somehow, some way, writer/director/producer Denis Villeneuve managed to one-up the immense scale and majesty of the original while also bringing a strong feeling of intimacy to many scenes and story ideas.
Villeneuve is a highly regarded filmmaker, and for good reason. His filmography speaks for itself, and his abilities to bend genres and draw on a wide variety of influences efficiently are a constant marvel.
I like to imagine Dune: Part Two to be, in some ways, a hybrid of The Godfather Part II and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Paul is both Michael Corleone and Anakin Skywalker, brilliantly playing his enemies off each other to consolidate a monopoly of power while going down a dark path of divinity and bloodshed in an effort to protect the ones he loves. He also manages to establish a wide-reaching space empire!
Another influence I see could be the great Lawrence of Arabia. Like Lawrence, Paul initially tries to wield the fanaticism within his newly adopted culture as a tool to make change and wage war but ultimately succumbs to the deeper pressures, power structures and politics of the people he leads to freedom. I like to think Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, was himself influenced by Lawrence of Arabia, which came out three years prior to his book.
Speaking of the book, this film adaptation of its latter half does a good job of modifying some aspects of the story to be more unambiguous and controlled. In the book, Paul seems to be much more aware and encumbered by the power and influence he grows to have, and he is able to maintain an element of morality. However, in the film, his turn to a darker side is a bit less coordinated and reluctant, and in the end, the power plays he executes are at the cost of his virtue. Additionally, a lot of the more nuanced lore of the book was trimmed down, providing a more straightforward narrative package for viewers.
In the eyes of this reviewer, the impact and mastery of Dune: Part Two cannot be understated. The talent of the massive ensemble cast, the technical prowess of all creative departments and the obvious love Villeneuve has for the source material ensure this movie is firing on all cylinders from start to finish. In an era where big franchises are tripping over themselves focusing on quantity over quality, this iteration of Dune looks primed to don a crown of unchallenged achievement not seen since masterwork series like The Lord of the Rings or the original Star Wars trilogy.
As we approach the time of big, festival-premiered, critically acclaimed, “awards-y” movies releasing left and right, one mustn’t forget the triumphs and perils of the instant classic that’s been out since March. Dune: Part Two remains one of the year’s best and is a prime candidate for industry-wide accolades come awards season.
Check out the official trailer for Dune: Part Two here: