Thanks to some family , I was able to catch Dune: Part Two at a Fan Event screening. It's not everyday that you get to see a film that's as highly anticipated as this one early, but it's quite great when you do.

Anyways, Dune: Part Two is a sequel that had a lot to live up to. Both in of meeting the same standards as its already great predecessor and pleasing fans of the original source material. While I can't really speak for the latter, I can definitely speak for the former. To put it simply, Dune: Part Two is an amazing achievement. For as unoriginal as it seems to say that, it's essentially what this film is. It's an achievement that does everything that a good sequel should do and so much more. It's not perfect and there's a few things I can nitpick about it, but by and large, I've got nothing but stuff to praise about this movie.

First off, the story. To keep in mind, I'm not knowledgeable about the Dune universe at all. I've never read any of Frank Herbert's original novels and my introduction to this whole series was literally Denis Villeneuve's 2021 adaptation of Dune. I'm basically a newcomer at this point. Thankfully, much like its predecessor, the story is still engaging even if you've never read any of the original novels. Without spoiling anything, the film pretty much picks up from when the first movie ended. Paul Atreides is with the Fremen and is out for revenge on the Emperor and House Harkonnen for what they did to his family. However, when actually watching this film, there's so much more to this story that makes it incredibly riveting. We not only see Paul Atreides as a character continue to evolve from where he was in the first movie, but we're introduced to a lot of new characters or ideas that were only either briefly shown or hinted at in the first film. I can't exactly say that all of them get the appropriate amount of screentime (there's so much this film has to handle), but Villeneuve is mostly able to balance all of what this film is presenting to tell its story. Going beyond that, Villeneuve also knows exactly what parts of the story need to be focused on the most. Paul living among the Fremen and learning their ways, building up Austin Butler's Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, why the House of Atreides were attacked in the first film, Paul's relationship with Zendaya's Chani, and showing more of the terrible future that Paul keeps having visions of. Even then, these are just some of the stuff the film spends a lot of time on. Regardless if you're familiar with the source material or not, it's hard not to get lost in this film and the way it continues its story that goes in plenty of interesting directions (including one great twist during the second act) and keeps your full attention the whole way through.

Now here's where we get to what's probably the best aspect of this film. The filmmaking. I'm fully serious when I say that on a filmmaking-level, Dune: Part Two is absolutely phenomenal. The editing is fantastic, the size and scope of everything feels even larger than its predecessor and there's a plethora of shots in this film that are just dripping with epic quality all over it. Without question, Greig Fraser is already ri the ranks to become the next Roger Deakins in of cinematographers. Seriously, between this, the first Dune, The Batman, and The Creator, this guy knows how to make a shot feel so epic and large in scale. Even more impressive considering the fact that both of these Dune movies don't exactly have the most vibrant of color palettes. Yet he still works very well with what he has in order to deliver so many shots that are just filled with life. Further complimenting the cinematography is the visuals, the effects, the production/costume design, and even Hans Zimmer's musical score (still a banger). All of which are amazing and do so much in making this one of the most gorgeous films you'll ever see in a giant IMAX theater. I legit can't think of any moment during this movie when the visuals fell flat or anything looked even remotely fake. Everything from the shots of Arrakis, the giant sandworms, the House of Harkonnen, and the action sequences looked so good and I can't stress enough how grand it was in of scale. It was like watching John Wick: Chapter 4 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse last year. Sure, their predecessors were very impressive in scope and scale, but it just went even bigger with the next installment. With all of this, it's more than evident of Villeneuve's ion for the Dune universe and much like with the first film, he crafts a world that gives the original source material the kind of epic quality that it deserves.

Speaking of ion, that is sensed in every frame of this film but especially with Villenueve's directing. Again, it's practically a given that he loves this universe but it's the way he presents it (telling this story/showing this world on such a grand and massive scale) that stands out the most. On top of all that, the film's got so much more going for it. The script is great, the pacing (despite being very long) never left me bored, the bits of humor don't feel out-of-place and work in delivering some much needed levity, there's plenty of disturbing/shocking moments, the callbacks to the first film feel earned, the dramatic scenes are strong, and the characters are all interesting, three-dimensional, and fully fleshed-out. Not all of them get the same amount of screentime, but the film still gives most of its characters some form of spotlight and never loses sight of who's the main focus, Paul Atredies.

Lastly, there's the performances. As one would expect, every actor in this film is stellar. Whether their role is extremely prominent or only in a few scenes, everyone gets a moment to shine and are fully committed to their characters. Though out of everyone in this film, Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atredies is by far the standout. Chalament has to go to some dark places with his character here, but he pulls it off brilliantly and still retains a lot of his natural charisma that we've come to expect from him. His performance here is also just a perfect example of his range as an actor. He could go from whispering and talking normally in one scene to screaming and giving a big speech in the next, but all of it feels natural and shows how far Paul as a character has come since the first Dune. Outside of Chalamet, the rest of the cast (whether returning or new ones) all do a fantastic job. From Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson (probably her best performance yet), Josh Brolin, Austin Butler (one of the best psychotic villains I've seen in a while) Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux and Javier Bardem (who's just a godforsaken delight here), everybody does an amazing job in their roles. This also goes for the new additions to the cast.

Overall, there's definitely more stuff I can get into about Dune: Part Two. Heck, I didn't even talk about the few nitpicks that I had with it. However, since this review is already very long and this is the kind of film that you need to see at least more than once to fully digest and understand everything (much like the first Dune), I'll be saving more of my thoughts on this film for when I see it again.

Nevertheless, I still stand by my opinion that Dune: Part Two is an amazing sequel. I'd probably prefer this one to the first Dune, but both of these movies are fairly close in of quality. I can absolutely guarantee you that fans of the original Frank Herbert novels and the first film will not be disappointed with this one. It's a sequel that offers so much to love and it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible with the biggest audience possible. Seriously, I haven't seen or even felt this much excitement about seeing a movie in the theater for a while, but it was great to have that back again. Hopefully, that excitement continues long after this film opens nationwide very soon.

Denis, if you happen to be reading this, bring on Dune: Part Three!