Dune: Part Two is an epic prolongation of the holy war-and-romance space tragedy in Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 movie. In the first installment, Chani only had seven minutes of screen time compared to the cataclysmic impact she has in the second film. Zendaya’s focal role as Fremen, Chani Kynes, is the heart of the sandstorm forming in the Dune franchise. Simultaneously, Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides is the eye of that destructive vortex that unravels in front of the audience’s very eyes.
The way of the desert is Chani’s practical survival approach to life on Arrakis. The young warrior teaches Paul Atreides how to be like Fremen in the desert through choreographed sand-walking techniques, sandworm-riding action, weapon training, and vitally, how to traverse the desert independently. Cinematographer, Greig Fraser visually empowers the depths of Arraki’s desert terrain while allowing Zendaya and Chalamet’s characters ‘ interactions to remain devastatingly intimate.
The Fremen deity Shai-Hulud is a god that unifies the spiritual population of pillaging sandworms in the Fremen community and is integral to their culture’s beliefs. This spirit and the sacred spice soil sustains the life of the Fremens and the Imperium superpowers desire these desert nutrients.
Zendaya is a force of nature as Chani — the fighter with the blue eyes of Ibad is swallowed in tactical gear and she dons monochromatic fabrics. She wears the complex emotions that Chani experiences through her silent expressions, she slowly surrenders to the controversial love she shares with the character Paul. Outside of the film, Zendaya’s fashion world tour for Dune press has resembled various iterations of her character’s robust outfits and the film’s afro-futuristic aesthetic.
Villeneuve’s Dune films are Shakespearean odysseys in the science fiction motion picture genre. The infinite set landscape of blended sand dunes in Jordan and Abu Dhabi serves as the emotional foreground for the protagonists. The charged bond between Fremen, Chani, and Paul Atreides feels isolating and is underscored by Hanz Zimmer’s musical composition. Thus, making every scene of bloody betrayal leading up to a grand, calculated coup d’etat of a climax much more cinematically intense.
New characters enter the “Duniverse” — Austin Butler is the chilling psychotic heir, Feyd- Rautha Harkonnen. His character appeals to his father Baron Vladimir Harkonnen’s villainous decrees who compares to Sheev Palpatine from Star Wars. Florence Pugh is Princess Irulan and the daughter of Christopher Walken’s character, the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. These imperial forces continue to invade Arrakis for their natural resources. Paul Atreides and Chani retaliate together against these attacks on their home and Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet’s chemistry is uncanny amid explosive sci-fi spectacle.
The French-Canadian director hones in on Paul Atreides’s and Chani’s forbidden connection as the heartbeat of the operatic story arc. Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet’s characters share a rare kiss while sitting atop a Mt.Everest-sized sand dune. At peak movie magic hour, Villeneuve directs the settled couple to clutch onto each other while the horizon sets into darkness — foreshadowing the remarkable terror ahead and Atreides inching closer to the dark side.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two orchestrates the oncoming crumbling of character relationships, dwindling dynamics of power, and possibly, love. If The Empire Strikes Back was arguably George Lucas’s best Star War’s film, Dune: Part Two has a similar imprint on Villeneuve’s filmography. Like Anakin Skywalker’s downfall, the audience experiences Paul Atreides fully abandoning his royal lineage to settle for Chani and life with the Fremen but this suddenly causes a ripple effect when he becomes seething with revenge. He is seen as a Messiah figure to the Fremen who acknowledge his family’s political bloodline and his innate supernatural capabilities. Zendaya as Chani is overprotective of Paul and insulates him with their judicious Fremen leader, Stilgar played by Javier Bardem.
This sci-fi epic is Zendaya’s most action-packed role as she leads many attack missions against space colonial powers invading the spice supply in Sietch Tabr. She takes down Vladmir Harkonnen’s fleet with an infra-blue missile sniper and shows off her composed nature while steering control of enormous sandworms. Chani is rebellious and she isn’t a follower of blind faith or her people’s prophecies — she is utterly defiant and this is underlined by Zendaya’s stern acting. But, Paul Atreides’s ultimate aim is to avenge his father’s death which comes with a monumental cost as he buckles under his destiny to become the Messiah. The final scene of Dune: Part Two solidifies the fact that Denis Villeneuve has more desert to cross in the Dune franchise and Zendaya as Chani will be center stage.