Paul: Will you please listen? I'm not the messiah!
The Fremen: HE IS THE MESSIAH!

Sorry, had to make the joke. Anyway, my thoughts on Dune: Part Two. As someone who respected but didn't LOVE the first Dune and didn't really know what to fairly make of it (mostly because it felt more like an appetizer for what was to come more than anything else), this film in classic part two fashion is the main course - it acts as the epic payoff to everything that was initially set up, and as a result I can finally sit here comfortably with this story fully brought into perspective.

The greatest comparison I can make here is with Lawrence of Arabia. From the grand scale of the sweeping desert landscapes whose vastness is steadily reclaimed under the leadership of a messianic figure, magnified by the psychological fall of said messiah into the depths of emptiness and loneliness by the pursuit and belief in revenge, Dune: Part Two not only feels like a true epic whose magnificence explodes through the screen, but also an enthralling hero's journey that's slowly but surely converted into a timeless cautionary tale. I didn't always love the pacing and some of the big climactic battle sequences at the end specifically go by a lot faster than what I was anticipating, but overall I thought this really delivered and would not be surprised if it goes down as one of the most recognized and well regarded science fiction films of the decade, even more than the first.

Also Austin Butler is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors working today. From Elvis to this... the dude has some serious talent.