In some areas, the Honest Trailer for “Dune: Part 2” goes too far. Some are harmless but feel unnecessary. Criticizing director Denis Villeneuve as someone who is “still not sold on the talkis” is an odd angle to take, considering “Dune: Part 2” isn’t even his most popular sci-fi film. Claiming that Paul agrees with everyone for two straight hours is also out of context. He’s a diplomatic politician making connections and networking — who doesn’t want to come across in agreement in those scenarios?
Other points seem to overly pander to book critiques. Joking about Chani’s (Zendaya) dramatic shift from a passive girl in Paul’s dreams to a different real-life version plays on some of Dune 2’s biggest changes to the character from the books (where she’s less autonomous) but doesn’t make much sense in the context of the film. Attacking the lack of the Spacing Guild is another case of unnecessarily picking on adaptive decisions. The Spacing Guild is a critical political group from Frank Herbert’s books, and yes, they don’t have the same presence in Villeneuve’s movies as they do in the nearly impossible-to-watch Dune miniseries from 2000. But the movie is already stuffed with characters. Would more faces and names have really been a positive?
Other “Honest Trailers” critiques border on insulting, including the commentary that Paul’s relationship with Chani and the Fremen is similar to Timothée Chalamet’s real-life experience. The video jokes about Paul’s only real challenge, saying it’s “Seducing an ‘it’ girl and charming her Mid-Eastern adjacent family.” (The comment makes fun of Chalamet’s real-life relationship with Kylie Jenner.) Dragging personal behaviors and relationships into the jokes is always a dicey proposition at best.
