We live in a very dire time for the box office. It’s almost a miracle nowadays to see a big blockbuster become an unambiguous commercial hit. And I’ll say right now that if Dune: Part 2 isn’t enough to lure people to theaters, I’m officially convinced the theatrical model is in its final years. This was probably my most anticipated film of 2024, and a film that has pained me to watch get pushed back after its predecessor was also pushed back. But I got my IMAX ticket, I got my Dune popcorn bucket with the top that looks like a butthole, and I finally went in to see it.

Dune: Part 2 is a direct continuation to 2021’s Dune, once again starring Timothy Chalamet as Paul Atreides, who now must integrate into the desert-dwelling Fremen society to rise up and take revenge on his father’s killers, the Harkonnens. At the same time, he’s tormented by a prophecy that declares him a Chosen One due to his growing, heightened powers, and he must choose whether to lean into that prophecy or carve out his own path with Fremen member Chani (Zendaya).

It's tempting to just copy and paste my thoughts on the first film’s technical merits here, because the quality has not dropped. Once again, we have what should be a game-changer for special effects, but probably won’t be since studios prefer overspending and then killing other films to make up for it. You’re in this universe; there’s no other way to put it. The expansive scope is captured to perfection by Denis Villeneuve and Greg Fraser, from the sprawling deserts that are visible for miles, the crowds of thousands of people moving in perfect harmony and chaos, and the way every CGI shot is rendered so perfectly that I often questioned what was practical and what was digital.

This film gets how to make a fast-moving, tangible, realistic spectacle at this big a scale. What you’ve seen of the sandworm riding sequence in the trailer, for example … that’s nothing. The entire sequence is one of the most epic things I’ve ever seen. This is the kind of movie that boggles my mind wondering how it even got made and the reason I go to see movies in the theater. Doubly so with IMAX, which is how I saw it and well worth the extra money if it’s a comfortable enough spend for you. My ears were in also mild pain for hours afterward, much to my enjoyment, from the blaring, relentless sound design and Hans Zimmer’s score.

If I have one complaint about the direction, it involves the pacing. Villeneuve has always been a slow director, and I love how he brought that to the first Dune to let every single detail of this vast world and lore soak in. Part Two, however, is much more fast-paced, with information, shots, and major character beats going by with the briskness of a more typical blockbuster. I wouldn’t call this an outright flaw on its own, but with how many strange and surreal developments happen with certain characters, some of them really drastic, I think this quicker approach takes a bit away from how impactful they would have been.

But if your problem with the first Dune was the lack of much meat to the story, or that it felt half-finished, I can safely say that you don’t get that issue with Part Two. I personally found a lot to chew on with the first movie, but it’s mostly in what’s suggested or hinted at. Here, everything that I was hoping to see bloom in full force did exactly that, making for a dark, subversive, haunting story about religious and political manipulation. We know from Part 1 that Paul is prophesized to be the One, an all-powerful being who will lead the Fremen to paradise. But the undertones of him being forcefully coerced into this role become overtones as the cult of worship surrounding him increases, sometimes naturally, sometimes via uncanny supernatural forces that strip characters of their wills and identities.

Paul undergoes a startling transformation as the more he tries to resist the road laid out for him, the closer he gets to it. That sounds like a typical part of a hero’s journey, but it unfolds in a way that turns the notion of chosen ones and saviors completely on its head. From every angle, including his personal change to the larger powers that truly drive the narrative, there’s an inescapable darkness that may be jarring to anyone who went in expecting a more unambiguously triumphant story of resistance. I already loved Timothy Chalamet as an actor, but I’ve never seen him quite this intense and commanding before.

Paul’s mother (Rebecca Ferguson) plays a crucial role in the escalation as well, in ways that I really wasn’t expecting, dissolves the line between her own will and that of someone else’s, and … well, let’s just say this is about as good a case for pro-choice as I’ve seen in a while. It’s also the biggest example of where slower pacing would have really been better, but it’s still fascinatingly strange. Chani has a lot more meat to her as her outlook both matches and clashes with Paul’s and she changes from the bridge to her planet’s ways to ultimately the audience’s own eyes.

All the other returning characters, like Josh Brolin as Paul’s old trainer or Dave Bautista as the Harkonnen baron’s nephew, get at least one major moment to shine and earn their place in this story. The only character I’d consider a downgrade is Javier Bardem as the Fremen tribe’s leader. He’s a pivotal player in the rise of religious fanaticism, but he’s almost written as comic relief. A lot of the first third has noticeably more comedy than the previous Dune, which I’m not a fan of, but it thankfully fizzles out as the movie goes along.

The new characters include the emperor of this universe (Christopher Walken, fresh off one of this year’s many misguided Super Bowl ads) and his daughter (Florence Pugh). These two characters also draw a bit of a short straw in of screen time, again making me wish for slower pacing, but they’re still used effectively where it matters most. Then there’s Austin Butler as another Harkonnen nephew, one who’s even more psychotic and menacing than Bautista’s character. I’ll it that because of how basic he is, I’d have traded some of his time for more with a few of the other characters. But he’s still definitely better than … whatever Sting was doing in the 1984 film.

I’m also really embarrassed to say that I was so sure it was Bill Skarsgård playing him. It really looked like him to me. But nope. I guess the public has to wait to see him kick ass until Boy Kills World, which I’ll again shamelessly shill for by insisting you see it.

On top of all that, the small, intricate details of how this world and its culture work remain intact and expanded upon. A lot of the first hour is spent learning how the Fremen live, and we get an expanded look at the ways and motivations of the mysterious, influential Bene Gesserit. The cinematic world of Dune resides right on the line between sci-fi and fantasy, and it’s the little touches present in both films that make it feel so alien yet so real.

Dune: Part Two lived up to my expectations in of upping the story and maintaining its predecessor’s scale. I’ll it that the first half-hour or so wasn’t blowing me away, but the film builds from there into a gripping, jaw-dropping feat. (Kind of the opposite of how I feel the first film progresses.) Do I like it better than the first Dune? I’m not sure. I have a bit more to gripe about with this one, but the high points of its story are so much higher that it mostly balances out. I’m definitely seeing this again, so I’m sure I’ll have even more to chew on later. But right now, it’s just great to have a blockbuster with this level of technical mastery attached to such a rich, raw, and somber tale. It’s an absolute must-see.

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