"Father, I found my way."

An incredible continuation of an expansive and gripping sci-fi epic, Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune: Part Two' is a fantastic follow-up that truly feels less like a sequel and more like a cohesive continuation of a world-spanning, highly political, and ultimately warring world.

There's plenty to unpack, and nothing I say here will be a fresh perspective, but the first thing that stood out to me was how utterly fantastic some of the imagery was - the taming of a sand worm, the Fremen assaults against the Harkonnen, the way the final duel is filmed, and my personal favorite moment: the Sardaukar taking flight in a gravity free ascent up a large rock for cover in the first act. Simple, effective, but powerfully lingering and ultimately cool.

The returning cast were the biggest treat, all of whom somehow manage to become even more complex, moving, and who sport new sides to themselves, whether it's Chalamet's Paul Atreides earning a new Fremen name and grappling with a prophecy that's anything but or Javier Bardem's Stilgar's fanaticism resulting in him embracing the Lisan al Gaib with proud, open arms. The biggest surprise for me? Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica, who takes on a new role entirely, one soaked in religious fervor and an odyssey to change the minds of millions. She's quite scary here, as is Austin Butler's physically imposing and murder-happy Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, a terrifying warrior who is everything his brother is not.

I really only had occasional problems with the editing, with some hard cuts to jarringly new scenes or fresh locations that deserved a bit more setup and explanation. Besides that, I do think most of the freshly introduced characters don't get much to work with either - in some stretches, it's easy to forget the likes of Florence Pugh, Lea Seydoux, and Christopher Walken are even featured, while Anya Taylor-Joy (rightfully so, considering her character) is barely established and Tim Blake Nelson was cut entirely, unfortunately. As the stakes increase and the factions become more entrenched, it's a given we'll see new and important players (some of whom were previously established only in dialogue), but it still does feel like a delicate juggling act that isn't perfect.

'Dune: Part Two' is stunning in a lot of ways, even if it isn't a flawless masterpiece (and certainly not the best ever sci-fi epic some have proclaimed it to be, curiously enough, after only one viewing). Denis continues this journey with both fresh and familiar approaches while offering plenty of excitement and much more spectacle and action as he does character-building and relationship growth. It's not all perfect, but follow-up sequels of this magnitude rarely hit the mark the way this one did, ensuring 2024 has already delivered one of the best films of the year so early on. Whenever Villeneuve returns to this world, you can be sure I will too.