Denis Villeneuve’s violent science-fiction fantasy drama sequel in which a warrior, who has dreams of an apocalyptic future, is forced to decide between romance and the destiny of humanity.

This is the sequel to the hugely successful science-fiction drama Dune, which was released three years earlier – the best science-fiction movie from 2021 – and went on to win 6 Academy Awards, all in the technical categories: Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects, as well as being nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

I had very high expectations for this sequel – and the movie absolutely did not disappoint. This is well worth the wait!

The story concerns the mythic adventure of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chamalet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen while on a warpath of vengeance in contradiction of the conspirators who damaged his family. Facing a decision between the love of his life and the outcome of the known universe, he undertakings to stop an awful future that only he can forecast.

Timothee Chamalet gives a very good performance reprising his role as the warrior who has a huge decision to make and he has to be very careful with himself at the same time.

Elsewhere, Zendaya is decent as Paul’s love interest, while Rebecca Ferguson is fine as Lady Jessica, Paul’s Bene Gesserit mother, and Josh Brolin is moderate as Gurney Halleck, the previous army leader of House Atreides and Paul’s mentor and pal.

Also giving respectable performances are Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Vlir Harkonnen, Austin Butler as Vlir’s nephew Feyd-Rautha, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Dave Bautista as Vlir’s other nephew Rabban, Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV, Lea Seydoux as Lady Margot Fenring, Souheila Yacoub as the Fremen warrior Shishakli, Charlotte Rampling as the Reverend Mother Mohiam, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar, the person in charge of the Fremen tribe.

The direction from Villeneuve is excellent because he allows the facial expressions to be seen to a strong effect throughout, while also keeping a mixed atmosphere and a mixed tone happening as well.

The script is written to a terrific standard by the director and Jon Spaihts as they make the movie really easy to follow and create some humour too, meaning the movie never takes itself too seriously. But even when the movie isn’t funny, you can still understand what is happening, because the narrative is definitely there from beginning to end.

The set, camera, music, costume, sound, editing, makeup/hairstyling and visual effects all stand out best in of the technical aspects, because the set is absolutely terrific to look at throughout; the camera makes very good use of the locations and also captures the tense and occasional funny moments well, which deservedly get the edge-of-the-seat status; the music is very enjoyable to listen to; the costumes are brilliantly designed; the sound is excellent as you have to listen carefully; the film is edited to a fantastic effect; the makeup and hairstyling are outstanding; the visual effects dazzle whenever they appear on screen.

At the time of writing, the movie got Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Production Design (Shane Vieau and Patrice Vermette), Best Cinematography (Greig Fraser), Best Sound (Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill) and Best Visual Effects (Paul Lambert, Stephen Jones, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer).

At the BAFTAs, the movie is nominated for 7 prizes: Best Director (Denis Villeneuve), Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Editing (Joe Walker), Best Makeup and Hair (Eva Von Bahr and Love Larson) and Best Special Visual Effects.

The movie also got Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer).

The way this movie ends sets it up really nicely for the next instalment.

Lastly, I can tell you that I have reached another huge milestone: Dune: Part Two is the 15,000th film I have seen – and what a movie it is too!!

Overall, Dune: Part Two is an absolutely terrific science-fiction drama, due to the good performances, brilliant direction, script, mixed atmosphere, mixed tone, tense moments, action sequences, terrific technical aspects, and some humour. One of the best movies from this year – and the best science-fiction film too!