Zendaya Saves “Dune Part 2” From Being A Story Without Real Emotion

Filmed for the large format IMAX screen, Dune Part 2 chronicles the adventures of young nobleman Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he and his mother, the Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), try to earn the trust of the local people on the planet of Arrakis. Unfolding events attempt to pit Paul against his nemesis Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), but Paul tries to avoid the impending conflict so he can begin his new life with Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya).

I’ve never been a fan of the two-part breakups of novel adaptations, but Villeneuve more than justifies his decision to divide Frank Herbert’s novel Dune by crafting two distinct works of cinema. Dune, which was released in 2021, is deeply introspective and brooding in tone, but there’s a sharp tonal shift in Dune Part 2, which is both more action-packed and more humorous than its predecessor. While it’s a change that I personally was not a fan of, the change in tone hasn’t affected Dune Part 2’s overall reception. With a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Dune Part 2 has appealed both to critics and a host of fans online.

Dune Part 2 is so jam-packed with epic sequences and a sense of anti-religious sentiment that it runs the risk of becoming yet another hollow story of epic scale without truly human meaning. The film has one saving grace, however, which brings out a well of deep human emotion in the midst of its intergalactic grandiosity: The subtle and moving performance of Zendaya as Paul’s lover, Chani.

*This review contains spoilers for everyone but the Bene Gesserit, who know what I’m going to say anyway.*

What To Know If You Missed Dune Part 1

If you’re headed to the movies with your boyfriend to catch a Dune showtime this weekend, but you missed the first installment, never fear, I’ve got your back. Here’s what you need to know about the story before you watch the new film.

Young Paul Atreides (Chalamet) – the son and heir of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) – is reluctant to follow in his father’s footsteps and enter the galactic world of political intrigue. He is similarly cautious of his mother Jessica’s (Ferguson) religious Bene Gesserit training and her belief that Paul is the political Messiah that has been prophesied. The Bene Gesserit are a group of religious women who have special abilities and who have been scheming for the Messiah whose coming they prophesy.

But then the Emperor moves their family to the planet of Arrakis – the one place in the galaxy where an important resource called spice can be harvested. Spice is a hallucinogen, but it is also used to power every spaceship in the galaxy. The House of Atreides must leave their world of water and decamp to the harsh desert land of Arrakis in order to keep the spice trade going.

Only after they arrive on Arrakis do Paul and his parents realize that the assignment has been a trap. Shortly after their arrival, Paul’s family is betrayed into the hands of their nemesis, Baron Harkonnen (Skarsgård). Leto Atreides is killed, and Paul and his mother are left for dead in the desert.

But Paul has a strange aptitude for the customs of the planet’s local people, called the Fremen. Leaning on his instincts, he is able to keep the pregnant Lady Jessica and himself alive, and earn a place in the tribe of Fremen who discover them amidst the sand dunes.

Denis Villeneuve Has Created a Masterpiece of Realistic World-Building

I’ve seen Villeneuve praised online for his creation of the sci-fi universe of Dune, but in a world where cinematic universes pop up by twos or threes, that’s hardly something special. It’s easy to tell a sci-fi story that helps me imagine far-away space civilizations. It’s hard to make a space civilization feel similar to my own, and this is what Dune does differently. Unlike sci-fi films such as Avatar or The Creator, Villeneuve has crafted a universe that feels as real and close to our own as a historical fiction film does. From the water-saving garb of the Fremen people to the fighting suits of the Harkonnen warriors, all the elements of the film feel real and not fictional. This is perhaps the way that Villeneuve’s Dune is most similar to Star Wars, since both films manage to bring the imaginative world of science fiction closer to our own experiences here on earth.

Villeneuve achieves this feat through incredible attention to the small details that make each sequence of the film tick. In the film’s famous sandworm-riding sequences, Villeneuve explains that while it was not artistically necessary to show anyone dismounting from a sandworm, he made sure to completely imagine the process before filming. Riding a sandworm may not be real, but watching Paul summon his first sandworm and then leap on its back to ride does feel that way because, imaginatively, Villeneuve has made it so.

What sets Denis Villeneuve apart from other sci-fi directors is his unfailing faithfulness to the realism of the world he has imagined and his ability to give his audience an experience of that imaginary world which is consistent with their experience of the world around them. This kind of world-building is effective not only because it is comprehensive, but also because it is especially crafted to be beautiful. Whether it is the shades of brown found in the desert world of Arrakis to the black and white world of the Harkonnen’s home planet, the film’s cinematography draws out beauty from landscapes that would otherwise be colorless and dreary. Director of photography Greig Fraser – best known for his neo-noir cinematography in The Batman and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – uses light instead of bright colors to add nuance to his shots. For much of Dune Part 2, Fraser includes a single beam of light to guide the viewer’s eyes amidst the film’s grand scale.

The world of Villeneuve’s Dune is also made beautiful by the continued orchestration of cinema legend Hans Zimmer. Zimmer described his reaction to the idea of scoring Dune as that of “a crazed puppy,” and it’s clear that he’s been waiting most of his career to produce this score. Much of the score of Dune Part 2 incorporates the natural sounds of a desert setting, with percussive rattling to simulate the shifting of sand and sonorous shrieks to mimic the whistling of wind. This atmospheric sound provides the perfect backdrop for the score’s chillingly beautiful vocal theme, which plays at every significant moment on Paul’s path toward becoming the promised Messiah.

In a Sea of Solid Performances, Zendaya Shines

Denis Villeneuve is one of those few directors who can attract whatever acting talent he wishes, which has served him well in Dune. And yet, despite having an ensemble that includes cinema legends such as Charlotte Rampling and Christopher Walken, Dune never falls into the trap of distracting us with cameos from its central focus: The journey of Paul Atreides through the dangerous political landscape into which he was born.

Timothée Chalamet turns in yet another powerful performance as the tormented Paul, casting off any soft boy energy to portray a powerful young man taking his place as leader. But due to Chalamet’s adroit ability to express subtle emotion, we nevertheless see the cost of each decision for Paul, even if most of the characters around him do not.

Chalamet’s Paul finds a foil in Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, a “psychotic” heir to the House of Harkonnen who is Paul’s primary competition. Butler seems to have selected the most non-Elvis character he could find, and he almost seems to prefer the role of insane villain to that of tortured protagonist. It’s unfortunate that so many of Butler’s scenes are marred by didactic dialogue, which attempts to tell us what we should feel about Feyd-Rautha instead of just letting Butler’s performance tell us. (I mean, was it really necessary to state that Feyd-Rautha is “sexually vulnerable”?) Villeneuve makes a similar misstep in his treatment of Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem), whose role is reduced nearly to pure comedic relief. In a movie with few missteps, these stand out not because they are so egregious, but because they are the few of their kind.

Early in the film, the Lady Jessica takes a potion which will give her incredible foresight. The sequence marks the sharp turning point in Jessica’s character, and Ferguson adjusts her performance with a chilling finesse. Lady Jessica before was clever, dignified, and intelligent but still soft and vulnerable, and above all, concerned for her beloved son. After taking up the role of Reverend Mother to the Fremen, however, Jessica begins an active scheme to incite religious fanaticism, which will carry her son to the seat of highest power. Ferguson takes on the role of false prophetess with an almost disturbing aptitude.

The problem with all of these characterizations, however, is that each character in their own way sees Paul only as a symbol, a piece on the political chessboard. However interesting political machinations are, they aren’t emotionally gripping enough to keep a packed audience in a three-hour-long movie.

Which is where Dune Part 2 is saved by the narrow thread of a career-high performance from Zendaya as Chani, the Fremen warrior who becomes Paul’s true love and his voice of reason. The other women in Paul’s life see him as a figure: to his mother and unborn sister, he is a fulfillment of a religious prophecy, and to the Emperor’s Bene Gesserit daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), one of the few political options in a galaxy straining toward a world war. But Chani sees and loves Paul as a man, not for something he represents. As he becomes caught up in the events plunging them toward war, Chani fights against the narrative everyone else seeks to fit him into.  

This portrayal of Chani works not so much because of what the character says but because of the way Zendaya plays her. Her falling in love, the depth of her care, and her increasing fear over Paul’s future are best told in the way she looks at him in their private moments alone. At the end of the film, we are following not Paul, but Chani – for it is her woman’s heart that has kept us hoping till the finale.

Closing Thoughts

In Dune Part 2, Denis Villeneuve has crafted a once-in-a-generation, epic cinematic experience. With an all-star cast and a score that Hans Zimmer has waited his whole life to write, Dune Part 2 is set to become an instant science-fiction classic. But the film narrowly escapes the risk of a story hollow of real emotion due to Zendaya’s performance as Paul’s Fremen lover, Chani. Zendaya provides the heart that makes Dune Part 2 more than good science fiction, but a good story above all else.

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