He is the Quiznos Chickenstack

I have to admit that I do not see the appeal of Dune. There is no denying that the production values on 2021’s Dune and its sequel, Dune: Part Two, are quite good. The acting is solid, the film is handsome, everything put into it could lead to a good movie. Heck, even the concepts behind the setting are interesting, in the right context (such as the Westwood studios RTS games, Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty and Dune 2000). But when it comes to the actual story being told, and all the salient details within, I just do not care about anything happening in these movies. They’re slow, they’re boring, they’re Dune.

I do understand this series has its fans. Dune came out in 1965 and it was a formative novel for many. It has continued to pick up fans, enjoying the long story about politics and war on a desert planet that is key to a galactic empire. I get why fans might like this, but I just can’t get into it. Recognizing I came to these stories late, after I’d seen other sci-fi that came out after Dune’s original book release, what I see in Dune feels like stuff I’ve seen elsewhere and done better. Dune, to me, feels like Star WarsThe modern blockbuster: it's a concept so commonplace now we don't even think about the fact that before the end of the 1970s, this kind of movie -- huge spectacles, big action, massive budgets -- wasn't really made. That all changed, though, with Star Wars, a series of films that were big on spectacle (and even bigger on profits). A hero's journey set against a sci-fi backdrop, nothing like this series had ever really been done before, and then Hollywood was never the same. without the cool space wizards. Good and evil, right and wrong, black and white, all against the backdrop of a sprawling space empire. I watch Dune and I want… more. Clearly I’m not the kind of person this film was meant for.

But it is a well put together movie and even if I don’t care much about it myself I can still appreciate the level of craftsmanship put into the films. This sequel is as well made as the first film, with many visually stunning moments and a long, sprawling plotline well acted by its massive cast. There was a level of care put into this film that I can respect. Director Denis Villeneuve (who also co-wrote the script, as he did on the first film) clearly has a vision for this work. It speaks to him and he was willing to commit himself to writing and directing these two movies (and a third based on Dune: Messiah as well coming out eventually). I might not have been able to get into these movies, but that doesn’t necessarily make them bad. They just aren’t for me.

Dune: Part Two picks up immediately after the end of the first film with the last son of House Atreides, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), living, working, and training with the Fremen warriors of Arrakis. Their goal is to disrupt the spice trade on Arrakis, taking out the stranglehold that House Harkonen has on the planet after that house stole the planet from House Atreides. The Fremen people want their planet back, they want to be free, and were it not for the valuable spice that is naturally produced in the sands of Arakkis, no one would care about them or their planet. Instead, they have to fight tooth and nail against the evil empire that wants to control them.

Paul, though, is also viewed as something of a messiah, the chosen one sent from the heavens to free the Fremen people and save Arakkis. Paul doesn’t necessarily believe this, even if his mother, Lady Jessica, does. She’s one of the gifted Bene Gesserit (essentially space witches) and, after she becomes the Reverend Mother for the Fremen people, she works to convince them that Paul is their messiah, the Lisan al Gaib of the Fremen, the Kwisatz Haderach of the Bene Gesserit, the one who can overthrow the empire and save the galaxy. But Paul doesn’t want it. He’s happy to help the Fremen but he fears what he’ll have to do, what he’ll need to give up, how many will have to die if he ascends into power. Paul has to decide what’s more important, the person he is or the role he is destined to play.

Dune: Part Two, like the first movie, is a film rooted in its fundamentals. Right and wrong, good and evil. This is one of the reasons I couldn’t shake the Star Wars vibe when I watched this movie. It’s Paul, the lone warrior with the skills of magic and faith, taking on a massive, evil empire aligned against him. Only he can use the powers of the Bene Gesserit. Only he has the fortitude to do what’s right. From a group long thought dead he rises, and we’re supposed to accept him as the hero because, well, he’s the chosen one.

The issue with this line of thinking is that it glosses over character development for Paul. He comes in already having magic power. He’s already the heir to the Atreides throne. His actions are justified by right and position and the needs of the story, yes, but that doesn’t actually make him a compelling character. We have to actually care about Paul to want to see him succeed and, on that front, Dune: Part Two fails. While Paul is never a terrible character, and his motivations to help the Fremen people seem genuine, the story always couches it in talk of destiny and him taking power. Helping the Fremen, despite his protestations otherwise, feels like a means to an end and that he’s helping not because he really wants to but because this is what gets him to the next thing he wants.

I think part of why the film can’t sell it is that I just didn’t like Chalamet in the role. I know other reviewers have raved about him in this role but I found his performance so boring. He’s a bland guy in a bland role, doing bland things because the story requires it. Very rarely do I feel Chalamet’s connection to Paul and, because of that, I hardly ever feel like Paul is truly connected to the story. He’s a vacant space at the middle of the movie that needs a far more charismatic lead making Paul into the vibrant leader you could see every Fremen soldier following to their deaths. I don’t buy that here.

About the only time I believe Chalamet as Paul was when he was acting across from Zendaya, who plays Paul's Fremen love interest, Chani. Zendaya is great in this role, taking the understated acting style that director Villeneuve wanted, and still imbuing it with life and character. Chani is a force, as a character and on the battlefield, and when Paul is with her, he comes to life as well. Any time he has to act as the leader, or is working against Chani, though, the movie falls back down to the sands below.

I also just didn’t accept the Harkonen as the villains. Yes, the movie paints them as villainous bad guys out for their vile self-interests, but there’s no development behind them. They are all flash and no substance, gross, fat, nearly undead looking humans that send shivers of revulsion down your spine looking at them (which is a design choice I think works well). What they lack is actual character development. Beyond wanting to control Arakkis for greedy purposes we never learn anything about them. Hell, I struggle to even remember any of their names, despite their hideous appearances and violent natures. They’re just “generic bad guys” dropped into the film.

It’s weird to think for a two-part film such as this, but what the movie actually needs is more. More development, more time spent on the characters, more of everything that could create a far more compelling narrative. Villenueve crafted a gorgeous looking movie, and I think the cast, by and large, does what they can with their underwritten characters. The films, part one and two, never give us a reason to care, though, and that all comes down to the characters barely being more than archetypes without substance. They’re exist but I never once felt like they truly had soul to them. And without that it’s hard to care about anything else in the film.

I want Paul to feel like more than a generic chosen one. I want the Harkonnen to have more depth to them so they’re villains we can love to hate. I want the story to give us big moments and deep emotions. I just want more from this five-hour, two-part film. Without that it leaves both halves of Dune feeling like a pale imitation of other works, works that came out after the original Dune set the way forward for the sci-fi genre.