Dune: Part 3 (2026) Looks Amazing, but will the Story be Good?
I’m not a huge Frank Herbert nerd by any means, but Dune is still unequivocally one of the greatest high-Sci-fi epics of all time. This is undeniable.
I’ve never seen Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 1 (2022) in the theater, sadly. It is a beautiful film, and a mostly excellent adaptation. A lot of the casting is near perfect. Though I was certainly not sold on Timothy Chalamet as Paul, I was proven wrong. And he’s just been consistently proving his acting chops since then.
Rebecca Ferguson was perfectly cast as Jessica, and Stellan Skarsgard’s performance was, unsurprisingly, nothing short of masterful.
I’m ready for a law to be enacted that a movie can only be approved for production if he has a role in it–maybe with a slight caveat for Japanese and Indian films.
I was very disappointed, however, by the final act, as Paul and Jessica’s time with the Fremen is the movie’s weakest point, with a strong caveat for Worm-riding, which is extraordinarily cinematic, on par with the best of Star Wars and Jackson’s LOTR. Javier Bardem was particularly and uncharacteristically bad as Stillgar.
As the Fremen-focused sequence continues in Dune: Part 2 (2024), it remains, unsurprisingly, weak — aside from the aforementioned caveat regarding Sand-Worms — and also, a much better role and performance for Baradem. Austin Butler’s Faye was excellent as well.
On the whole, the sequel holds absolutely no rewatchability for me, but as a theatrical experience, it was absolutely epic. It is absolutely beautiful, with great editing, sound design, and score, because Denis Villeneuve has vision, and he is excellent at execution. But the story wasn’t as compelling as the setup.
I didn’t like the prominent role Channy played and was very disappointed by what little Josh Brolin was given to do here. What a waste.
Third Instalment
I didn’t know at the time I watched Part 2 that a third instalment was planned, though the story clearly did not conclude; but once it was announced, following the sequel, I was already far less invested.
The first trailer for the third film made no impression on me whatsoever. But the latest one got both my curiosity and my attention. The movie not only fantastic, but way more interesting than the second installment. Not only am I definitely going to see it (failing any new surprises or a very poor reception, opening week), but I think it might actually tie the story in a way that will render the overall story one of the greatest film trilogy of all times–frankly, if in final tally it surpasses the quality of the Sonic “trilogy” (which it hasn’t yet), it will have my respect.
It has a great narrative progression of escalating stakes, without overexposing the plot. It also perfectly strikes the tone of a true grand epic finale, while still focusing heavily on character.
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The editing, sets and designs, action and special effects, sound mixing, and score are in continuation with the high standards of the rest of the trilogy.
My concerns for the movie are two. One is that, in my complete unfamiliarity with Dune: Messiah, on which it is based, I understand we’ll be going through a significant time jump. I can’t fathom how you can do a convincing job of that while maintaining the younger members of the cast.
Second is the overprominence of Zendaya in the trailer. She was by far the weakest link in the previous films, and her having increased runtime in the second film was to its great detriment. Here it looks like her character, Channy, might be even more central, and even less book-accurate, in ways that could deeply affect both story and themes negatively.
Credit where credit is due, though: it does seem like she might actually be doing some acting in the film, for once, so that’s something at least.
The problem isn’t only overexposure; it is acting range. I could use a break from seeing Timothy Chalamet everywhere as well, but I can’t deny he found his stride as an actor and is an excellent Paul.
Sadly, in Channy’s case, she has been set up in a way I don’t think the upcoming film will be able to break away from, or that the filmmakers want to course-correct — let alone could, in the industry climate; so I don’t see that going well at all. It further makes me concerned what changes they will make with Princess Irulan and, possibly, Alia, Paul’s sister. Speaking of, Anya Taylor-Joy is also closing in on overexposure–I don’t think I’m necessarily getting sick of her any time soon, but there’s only so much over-girl-bossing I can take…
To be fair, Robert Pattinson is everywhere too, but I have zero problem with that. But I don’t want him to be a girl-boss either.
I wish we had gotten a bit more of a sense of who Pattinson’s character actually is in the bigger political scheme of the story in the trailer, to better comprehend the stakes, considering most people are far less familiar with Dune: Messiah; but I’m at least counting on the production’s awareness that someone will need to fill Austin Butler’s Feyd shoes from the previous film. And Pattinson has an excellent proven track record, whereas Butler had his moment in the sun after Dune: Part 2 and utterly wasted his 15 minutes, so it isn’t a major concern.
The movie does not lack talent, that’s for sure.
I’m actually excited for this. I think this movie might both be really good and break the bank.
It might render Villeneuve the biggest director we have today, now that Christopher Nolan is making big gambles on his stock as a filmmaker.
Though maybe Villeneuve isn’t actually too many steps behind him in playing subversion games with source material…
It might make for a very interesting comparison, because we are in the days where it can end up being Channy was the real hero all along. Or maybe she marries Princess Irulan, and together they rule the galaxy in peace, where men can’t keep ruining everything with their warmongering.
More likely than not, though, is that it will be a great cinematic experience, and then a disappointment on rewatch; not an all-time classic, but still a worthy spectacle, in the best sense. That’s probably the best-case realistic scenario.
