Caleb O’s review published on Letterboxd:
Well goddamn. He actually did it.
Not only did he continue the incredible VFX work, making the world feel lived in and physical. There’s a shot of a reflective ship that made my jaw drop, and a shot of a worm that nearly made me wet my pants.
Not only did the stunning costume work continue, showing different classes of society, practicality, and beauty. Rebecca Ferguson & Florence Pugh’s wardrobes are the standouts, but the way that every costume feels necessary and complete is amazing.
Not only did he take the almost completely beige colour palette of the first film, and only change it up by adding a stunning sequence in BLACK & WHITE. Some incredible imagery throughout, and the desert is never boring, it is so gorgeously captured.
Not only was the white saviour narrative questioned by the characters. Paul despises what the people think of him, and Chani knows it should be someone else.
Not only all of that. But Denis Villeneuve took an epic sci-fi saga, full of prophecies and destiny, and he grounded it completely in the characters, and their emotions, many of which clash with the expectation of the narrative, and made it completely believable. Everyone is making their choices because it’s what that character would do, not what the narrative demands.
Phenomenally good filmmaking.
