Colin Mullaney/Editor-in-Chief

      The second, cinematic installment of the “Dune” series, directed by Denis Villeneuve, landed in theaters on March, 1, 2024, and it’s already raked in over $360 million, including $82 million in the first weekend. Based on the books by Frank Herbert, published in 1965, the sci-fi epic is a nearly three-hour-long ride through the sands of Arrakis. Family rivalries, geopolitics, atomic weapons and learning to love after loss are just a sample of what’s in-store for audiences.   

Timotheé Chalamet, who plays protagonist Paul Atreides, and Zendaya, who portrays Chani, have come a long way since their breakout roles in “Call Me by Your Name” and “Shake It Up,” respectively. Fans disappointed by the lack of Zendaya and her measly seven minutes of screen time in the first “Dune” movie will be compensated for their two years of patience, with a slow-burn romance and emotional payoff that’s out of this world. 

Picking up where “Dune” left off, Paul Atreides and his mother, Lady Jessica — portrayed by Rebecca Ferguson — are lost in the desert. They  seek to avenge the death of Paul’s father, Duke Leto Atreides, at the hands of their rival: House Hakonnen, led by the stuff-of-nightmares Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

Through a series of trials set in motion long ago, Paul Atreides must discover whether he has what it takes to be the local peoples’ Messiah figure, aka the “Lisan al Gaib,” or whether he is merely a fraud, who has only gotten to where he is, because of his mother’s political puppeteering and mystical training.

Paul’s mother is a prominent devotee to the “Bene Gesserit”: a group of “witches,” who are playing 4-D chess, using the rival houses as pawns in their game. The Bene Gesserit are highly intuitive and powerful women that exert their influence on the “ruling” men of the galaxy, in order to strategically determine every political outcome in advance. Like the native Fremen people, the Bene Gesserit await their own coming Messiah, or the “Kwisatz Haderach” who will show “the way,” as the first male initiate of the Bene Gesserit. 

Mixed loyalties and divided duties will inevitably come back into play, and provide answers to questions posed by the first “Dune” movie, including whether Paul’s mother will sacrifice him for to the greater good of the Bene Gesserit, or show him divine wisdom and grace — with the help of her telepathic, unborn fetus.

In “Dune: Part Two,” symbolic allusion abounds, including religious iconography, rituals and motifs from traditions like Christianity, Daoism and Islam. Paul Atreides must encounter his own inner darkness and egoic human nature, in order to overcome and defeat it, like Jesus resisting Satan’s temptations in the desert after 40 days and nights. 

As an archetypal “messiah” image, Paul Atreides is resurrected after a deep journey into the unconscious and underworld. He learns the transformative properties of poison, and the life-giving power of confronting whatever truth one would least like to ingest. 

To rise above, Paul must go deep within, and learn how to ride the waves of his own mind and emotions, to walk the fine line between the conscious and unconscious mind and gain mastery over himself and his human nature.

In “Dune: Part Two,” prophecy is greater than anyone individual, yet it requires each person involved to sacrifice who they would have become, in order to be who they truly are. By definition, destiny is “destined,” but it must also be carefully enacted by brave and daring individuals, looking for the fight of their lives. 

If that wasn’t enough pressure, Austin Butler — no longer speaking in an Elvis accent — makes an appearance as Feyd-Rautha, to reflect back the sinister shadow side that Chalamet’s character is struggling to integrate. Competing for Messiah-ship, this rivalry does not go quite as smoothly as John the Baptist dunking his cousin Jesus in the Jordan River. 

A mix of action and depth, avid fans of artfully choreographed fight scenes will not be disappointed, nor will theologians and practicing psychoanalysts. The music score by Hans Zimmer will also send a shiver up and down audiences’ spines, with bagpipes, rumbling drums and war chants, fitting for the movie’s many combat scenes.

“Dune: Part Two” wouldn’t be complete without a vague and elusive ending, leaving the series and cinematic universe open to further expansion and exploration. However, despite its ambiguity, there is something immensely satisfying about the resolution, and watching Zendaya ride… nevermind, USD students will have to go see it for themselves, at one of many local theaters showing “Dune: Part Two.”