Oscar 2025 Contenders: Dune Part 2: Still Vacationing on Arrakis

I was so hyped when this film series was announced. I read all five Frank Herbert novels from the original series in the 1980s and many of the Brian Herbert additions when they came out. I was not disappointed when Denis Villeneuve’s Part 1 came out and am a little surprised that I didn’t write about it on my website back in 2021. I guess I was too buried in school stuff to have taken the time to reflect on the experience. Damn.

Oh, hang on, I have an UPDATE. I was able to find a short FB post taken the day I saw Dune Part 1 in the theaters:

Just before Part 2 was released to theaters I rewatched Part 1 and delved even deeper into the lore by building the LEGO Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter (10327). I know, nerd! Click the link if you want to check out the time-lapse video of the LEGO build.

So this was the third time l’ve seen this film in the theater. Lots of Timothée Chalamet over the last two days His transformation from the skinny kid at the beginning of this film series to the messiah is impressive and I’m intrigued by the changes Denis Villeneuve introduced in the end regarding Chani. Someone joked that Chalamet went from being a self-absorbed sociopath in “A Complete Unknown” to a murderous one in “Dune Part 2.” It’s actually a bit more complicated than that. His character in Dune knows that the “prophecies” are convenient pre-planned “tales” that the Bene Gesserit nuns have fed to the Fremen and even though he’d prefer to disappear into the desert and be with his Chani and her people, there will be no freedom for anyone unless he risks the deaths of billions by heading down a path that will lead to a “holy war.”

As I noted in my previous Dune 2 article, there were many ways where Villeneuve could have stumbled in the telling of this complicated tale, but he served the story well, while leaving more story to be told in Part 3. Winning the Best Picture award was a bit of a long shot. I thought Chalamet could have won Best Actor for either Dune Part 2 (not nominated for that one) or A Complete Unknown (nope). I’m really looking forward to what Villeneuve has in store for us for Dune Part 3 whenever that comes out. And That’s seven of eight films completed, in my Oscar movie marathon. I’ll be back in the theater 13-hours later for the final event, Oscar nominated shorts…. 😎🤞

[Movie viewed on 2025-02-28 at Suncoast Cinemark].