Dune: Part Two is many things. For one, it’s a sequel (if you consider it one, its rather part two of one story) that improves upon nearly every single aspect of the first film, and furthers them - and the first was great! It’s also a master-class of adaptation, taking liberties when needed, but staying true to the story, characters, and messages of the novel. It’s also a master class of directing, acting, cinematography, score, visual effects, action. It’s also emotionally gripping, extremely thought provoking, and overall one of the best films of the 2020s thus far.

Let’s talk about the acting for a minute, because everyone shines. Some felt that the first part was a little undercooked in of acting and characters, and while I disagree, this would absolutely click for those people. Timothée Chalamet puts in one of his absolute best performances as Paul Atreides, and they do everything I wanted to see with his character. Rebecca Ferguson is even better here, getting more to do and being both comforting and chilling. We already knew Austin Butler can play Elvis pretty damn well, but he’s absolutely chilling as Feyd-Rautha, one of the most effective villain performances I've seen in a while. Gotta give a shout out to the great Javier Bardem, whose performance shows how the power of faith can be a glorious thing, and a very haunting and frightening thing. Zendaya’s Chani is arguable the heart of it all, whose role is elevated from the source material, so much nuance and confliction. Also Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh…I could go on. A truly all star cast giving it their all.

Dune: Part One was already a showcase on modern day epic filmmaking. Everything from the production design, costumes, score, and scope just oozed that sense of a true epic. Well, Part Two takes that and practically puts Part One to shame. I feel like I now know what audiences felt like watching something like Lawrence of Arabia or The Lord of the Rings when they were released. Greig Fraser is now the cinematographer to watch, nearly every single frame is gorgeous and could be framed. Hans Zimmer is already one of the greatest film composers of all time, and his score from the first film won him an Oscar, yet he sures that and makes one of the best scores I can recall over the past few years. All of this at this being guided by Denis Villeneuve who proves that if Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune: Part One weren’t enough to convince you, is one of the best directors working right now. He has made the unfilmable, filmable, the inaccessible, coherent and clear.

In of scope, I have to mention its IMAX presentation which I can now say is the best I’ve ever seen the format used. For a movie like this, you not only need the biggest screen, but the biggest frame to fill it and it having the expanded ratio throughout the entire film was breathtaking. See it in IMAX if you can, or any screen for that matter. Seeing this with my friends and all of the other fans was one of the best theatrical experiences I’ve ever had.

The one small thing that I will say is this the ending (among one other thing, if you know you know) does make this feel like a second part of a trilogy rather than the second half of one story. Indeed, Villeneuve plans to adapt Dune: Messiah as the third chapter of this ‘trilogy’. While I’m very excited for that possibility, I think it could’ve been a bit stronger if it felt like a part 2 of 2 rather than a part 2 of 3.

I’m going to see it more times, and will probably have more to say, and many people will have many things to say. It’s phenomenal, sensational, epic, and truly awe-inspiring. Can’t wait to see it again this weekend, and for everyone else to see it.