Warner Bros. has dropped another trailer for the highly anticipated sequel Dune: Part Two, scheduled for release on March 1, 2024. The trailer showcases even more spectacular imagery and epic battle sequences, sure to draw audiences into movie theatres again, hoping for a similar experience to 2022’s Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve.
The new trailer presents some cause for alarm; however, it hints at a bizarre level of teen romance sappiness and suggests that the filmmakers may attempt to pull a feminist bait-and-switch. The trailer shows Paul Atreides (Timothy Chalemet) protesting his love for Chani (Zendaya) much more strongly than any woman would appreciate, turning to her for guidance and helping her fire a sci-fi rocket launcher. Set against stirring music, the young duke declares, “I would very much like to be equal to you,” Chani replies, “Maybe I’ll show you the way.”
The original novel Dune, by Frank Herbert, contains nothing like this. The sappiness and out-of-character dialogue in the trailer is likely due (at least partially) to the screenwriter’s lack of comprehension about how women think or what arouses women’s romantic interest. In reality, most women are repulsed by men who are too attentive and allow women to take the lead. Women generally show interest in men driven forward by their ambitions and expect a woman to follow them.
While promoting the first film, Director Denis Villeneuve stated that he wanted to expand the roles of the female characters in the book—apparently by granting them more autonomy and power. It is likely that Villeneuve mistakenly thought this would make the female characters more “respectable” somehow. Watching the diminutive Zendaya running around a battlefield and trying to shout in a commanding voice is more comical than anything else.
While these modifications to the story are concerning, fans may be relieved that the trailer also includes shots where Timothy Chalemet appears to project a steely-eyed masculine energy and the sort of iron-willed self-assertiveness required by a man who rises to rule an entire planet full of brutal desert barbarians. It is possible this new movie version of Paul (the future Emperor) might not be a total “simp”.
RELATED: Godzilla Minus One Tops $50 Million As Fans Push The Film To New Box Office Records
Denis Villenueve’s 2022 film Dune delighted fans of the novels with its serviceable adaptation of the beloved sci-fi novel. The casting choices were mostly impeccable, though some worried that the slightly built Timothy Chalemet did not cut a very imposing figure for such a commanding character as Paul Atreides. The film featured only two glaring departures from the source material: a race-and-gender-swapped Dr. Liet-Kynes and some hybrid human-spider creature that appears inexplicably in the scene’s background.
There’s a lot to look forward to in Dune: Part Two, not least of which is the appearance of Christopher Walken as the evil Padishah Emperor, a surprising casting choice that may turn out to be excellent. Astin Butler (Elvis and The Shannara Chronicles) will also appear as a more psychotic version of the character first portrayed by musician Sting in the 1984 film adaptation by David Lynch.
Fans can only hope that this second film in the series is not completely thrown off the rails by feminist pandering and ill-conceived romantic interludes.
What do you think of the new trailer for Dune: Part Two? Let us know in the comments below!
Leave a Reply