My review for this film is identical to my review for PART ONE.

On the one hand, I have to give Denis Villeneuve credit for doing what I genuinely thought only a few years ago was impossible: successfully cracking the code and turning DUNE into a mainstream film franchise. He's made a two-part big-budget adaptation that is more cohesive than the David Lynch film, has amazing production value and the visual FX of modern films, and the result have been big box office hits, accessible to most audiences. Compared to the lackluster REBEL MOON or James Cameron's AVATAR films, DUNE is a nice reminder that intelligent science-fiction epic films still exist.

But on the other hand, I still have the main criticism I've always had since I first read the novel back in 2007: I don't care about any of these characters, despite the talented cast. DUNE has always been an emotionally-sterile story that succeeds at world-building and having a lot of unique elements, but not really at getting me emotionally invested. Whereas I care about the characters in the strange worlds of LORD OF THE RINGS, GAME OF THRONES, and STAR TREK, I concluded in 2021 that DUNE was just too weird for me, and I stand by that.

And I know that fans of the books will often point out "Paul Atreides is not meant to be a heroic figure. He's the main character, but he's not a hero." Okay, fine, but it isn't just Paul. I don't really like any character in this story.

With that said, there's a lot of great filmmaking here, including the entire gladiator arena sequence in the middle introducing us to Austin Butler's character. I like how this sequence is shot in black & white and feels like its own short film within the larger film.

And I also applaud the adaptational choice to not include the character Alia, except visualized as a fetus in the womb who converses with her pregnant mom, and in a vision as an adult (played by Anya Taylor-Joy in a cameo). The book's climax, featuring Alia as 2-year-old who can speak like an adult in articulate, complete sentences, and having her kill Baron Harkonnen, always felt odd and anti-climatic. Both the David Lynch version and the 2000 miniseries attempted to visualize this with a child actress and it felt weird and hard to take seriously. Paul being the one too kill the Baron is a good change, feeling much more cathartic.

But there are a few things that, dare I say, David Lynch did better. For one thing, I much prefer Jose Ferrer as the Emperor, who felt more menacing than Christopher Walken in this version, who just seems confused and is a bit distracting. I know I'm not the first person to say this, but despite being a talented and Oscar-winning actor, Walken has such a distinct voice and way of speaking that sticks out in this film.

I also have the same criticism that I had of REBEL MOON PART 2: despite this film being marketed as the conclusion to the story established in PART 1, it then ends on yet another sequel-hook. Though here it's a little more justified, given that DUNE MESSIAH exists and there's certainly more source material to draw from. But still, I would have preferred an ending that brought more immediate closure for right now, which I felt the novel was able to do.

Still, there's no denying Villeneuve's talent, the meticulous visual set and costume design, or the amount of hard work that went into this film. I generally liked the musical score, though wasn't a fan of the "Wailing Woman" motif popping up abruptly at one point. However, for me personally, when it comes to intelligent science-fiction, I much prefer STAR TREK, both TOS and TNG. Now that's my jam.