Imagine getting everything you’ve ever wanted… only to realise that it has come a tad bit late. That’s exactly where space Dune: Part Three is and according to Variety, the first footage shown at CinemaCon delivers the consequences promptly.
The cost of becoming “the one”
Seventeen years have passed since we last saw Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). But this time he does not appear as the boy who’s figuring things out, or the rising messiah, for that matter. He comes forth as Paul, the Emperor. And there’s nothing pretty about it. As reported by Variety, the footage makes it painfully clear that Paul hasn’t just changed… he’s become his worst vision. He is now ruler whose name carries the weight of a galaxy-wide jihad. A ruler who has wiped out entire worlds in the process. It must be mesmerising to watch, Jason Momoa’s character (ghola), looking straight into the eyes of Paul saying: you’ve conquered everything… and destroyed just as much. Now that is no victory lap, it’s the kind of straight talk that leaves all sugar coating behind.
Love, power… and the things you don’t get to keep
The earlier films gave us a slow-burn romance between Paul and Chani (Zendaya), now this one delves into the aftermath of choosing power over everything else. Ruling the universe doesn’t mean that Paul is living the life that he actually wanted. In fact it is far from. What he got is a political marriage with Princess Irulan, while Chani exists at a distance that feels less physical and more emotional. And that, my friends stomps you harder than any battle sequence. The truth is that what Paul gained, is far less than what he traded away without realising the cost.
A different kind of Dune
Director Denis Villeneuve teased that “Part III” will take the story in a new direction. “I didn’t want to walk in my own footsteps,” he said. “I wanted to do something new.”
With the meditative feel of the first film and the second that was based mostly into war, Part Three is being shaped as something faster, sharper… very much like a psychological thriller wearing the skin of a sci-fi epic. The opening footage shown at CinemaCon depicts that without haste. Showing how loud, violent, and heavy with consequence this actually is. Is it impactful……oh, absolutely. But underneath all that scale, lies a story that’s more personal and uncomfortable.
The Paul Atreides we weren’t ready for
Timothée Chalamet described this version of Paul as essentially becoming “his worst vision”, which lands differently when you think about it. You see, Dune was never really about becoming powerful, but about what happens when you actually get there… and realise you can’t control what follows. This version of Paul doesn’t need to figure out who he is anymore. He knows exactly who he is, and that’s the problem.
Final thought
What Dune: Part Three seems to be doing, at least from this first look, is stripping away the fantasy of destiny. The question isn’t asking “what if you were chosen?” It’s asking, “what if being chosen was the worst thing that could happen to you?” Now that feels like the most honest direction this story could take.
