This review may contain spoilers.
Jordan Shapiro’s review published on Letterboxd:
When I’m in a Paul Atreides glazing competition and my opponent is Stilgar: 😳
They said to see this on the biggest screen possible and I took that shit literally. Made the trek down to Savannah to see this on the tallest imax screen in the world and boy was it worth it.
Part 2 deviated quite a bit more from the book but honestly, it might have told the story better? There was no way they could make toddler Alia work for the screen without seeming stupid. With that of course comes changing the Baron’s death, which I think works better here. Paul had the real beef with the Baron annyway. Austin Butler brings a wave of charisma to Feyd-Rautha that sures his literary counterpart. The gladiator sequence was completely jaw dropping. And they actually gave Rabban the obvious death scene he deserved instead of just a casual off-page mention of his death.
Chalamet gives the performance he was born to play. Like Lord of the Rings, this is more of one movie split up into two parts rather than two seperate films. I think I may have enjoyed the first one a tiny bit more just because the spectacle was new and the plot was a bit more tight. But what an unforgettable experience. Glad Denis is taking a break to do other stuff so he doesn’t get burnt out but damn I can’t wait until Messiah. What a beautiful film and beautiful experience.