Dune: Part II (2024) March 2nd, 2024

If I were to give a straightforward review of Dune 2 it would be a regurgitation of my 2021 Dune review. Dune 2 is a visual spectacle paired with stiff performances resulting in an entertaining but overwhelmingly average movie. The monochromatic aesthetics of the Harkonnen planet and the weird pulsing blacklights or whatever those were, stood out among the altogether breathtaking art direction and cinematography, but in the end, it’s no more significant than the next The Fast and the Furious film. Dune 2 builds on the foundation laid by the best films of an era with bloated budgets, casts, and runtimes to settle on the peak of the modern blockbuster bellcurve. But that’s not what the kids think.

In the weeks following its release, my TikTok FYP was dominated by young people forcefully declaring Dune 2 the greatest film of all time. Endless Muad’Dib and Lisan Al Gaib memes flooded my socials in the effusive waves of fans’ shallow adoration. I find myself again wading through the hyperbolic exuberance of those who tweet loudest.

Dune 2 seems to be everywhere right now, but how long will its influence last? No films had more impact on my high school’s collective references than Napoleon Dynamite and Borat (special recognition for Chapelle’s Show). In 2006 our content was more limited than those of today’s youth. This difference makes me wonder, can a movie’s cultural impact last in this oversaturated engagement environment? In the days preceding my wedding in early 2020 my friends reminded me how to correctly pronounce ‘my wife’, and I still regularly mutter ‘Gosh!’ to myself when exacerbated. Will ‘Lisan Al Gaib’ be referenced in 15 years?

I must confront my own biases as I assume the average college-age person’s exposure to film is tainted by one studio’s decade long box office dominance. Do so many young people think Dune 2 is the best movie ever because their next best film is The Avengers? Surely I experienced the same phenomenon but now I can observe it from the outside.

I’m glad Dune 2 resonated with so many people and I hope its zealots follow the rabbit hole to more spectacularly mundane films of yesteryear. I hope they experience the heartbreak of a bible salesman struggling to connect with his orphaned daughter during the dust bowl, the mystery of the missing criminal selling stolen penicillin in Venetian streets, or the thrill of watching 12 guys argue in one hot room! I expect our collective attention spans to be further shortened as we become more integrated with technology and entertainment leans further into instantaneous gratification, but I hope movies like Dune 2 and The Avengers inspire people to seek out classic films despite requiring their undivided attention.

Who knows, maybe these kids don’t give a shit about film and just wanna fuck their popcorn buckets?