The second episode of “Dune” directed by Denis Villeneuve was released in cinemas in France. And critics, including L’internaute, have already published their first opinions.
For blockbuster fans tired of most of the big budget productions of recent years, he is expected to be the Messiah: Dune, part two was released in cinemas this Wednesday, February 28 and promises to create an event after the critical and popular success of the first part, in 2021. The sequel to Frank Herbert’s adaptation by Denis Villeneuve (First contact, Blade Runner 2049) is definitely the cinema release not to be missed this week.
But if Dune, part two promises to create an event after the very warm welcome given to its first part, is the film a success? The first press critics shared their feelings before the release of the science fiction feature film, and they are clear: the second episode is “even better than the first” (BFM TV).
We saw the film before it came out and we loved it Dune, part two. More monumental, more overwhelming than the first episode, this science fiction film stands out as a great spectacle (despite some lengths which are not penalizing) which finally embraces the complex political issues of Frank Herbert’s work (the risks of fanaticism and religious manipulation, the controversial figure of the messianic leader). Served by sumptuous photography by Greg Fraser, an imposing cast (ZendayaTimothée Chalamet and Austin Butler in the lead) and a phenomenal soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, Denis Villeneuve gives birth to a cinema monster that is absolutely worth seeing in theaters.
The French press is won over by Dune 2
In France, the press is totally won over by this second part, which Le Devoir does not fail to describe as a “masterpiece”. Numerama does not hesitate to give the film a 10/10, while Ecran Large gives it a more measured but equally excellent score of 4/5. For the first media specialized in technological and digital news, Denis Villeneuve “revolutionizes SF in cinema” by offering a feature film “both metaphysical and spectacular”. Le Parisien believes for its part that “Denis Villeneuve succeeds in all his bets”, by showing himself “stronger, more beautiful, bigger, more exciting” than the first episode.
Same story with Première, for whom Dune 2 is “a monumental cinema messiah”, even describing Denis Villeneuve as “Ridley Scott’s finest heir”. For the magazine specializing in seventh art news, “at the end of its (almost) three hours of film, Dune: Part Two becomes, like Oppenheimer last year, an immense piece of cinema thought out and invested, hyper exciting, a film truly directed by a vision”. For Cinemateaser, “it takes the time to captivate, to impose its issues, to expose and nourish its ambiguities” when Closer salutes a “phenomenal visual and sound experience”.
Some media nevertheless have more measured opinions, like Le Monde which considers that it is a “literal adaptation, very bare of plot”, or Cahiers du Cinéma which sees in this epic “a competition of obsequious sentences disputed between affected twinks, tired old glories and muses of luxury brands”. For Télérama, which welcomes “beautiful images, a luxury cast and action” but deplores “a story which lacks clarity.”
Foreign opinions
Internationally too, the press is totally seduced by the imposing aesthetic and the ambition of Dune 2. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has 97% positive reviews out of 156 reviews: “Visually thrilling and narratively epic, Dune, part two continues Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the beloved science fiction series in spectacular fashion. This is a better rating than the first part, which won the support of 83% of critics (and 90% of users who had given it a rating). With such feedback, there is no doubt that the feature film will arouse the public’s curiosity this Wednesday.