So glad I watched a short 5-minute recap of the previous film on YouTube the night before seeing this sequel – I had forgotten how much I’d forgotten! It starts off very strongly (I could watch Fremen attack Harkonnen in the sands all day long and those anti-grav suits make for such a neat effect!). Eventually things become a bit dull, with lots of indulgent exploration of Fremen society and culture, and I found myself yearning for the next cutaway to Geidi Prime or the Bene Gisserit (Charlotte Rampling is fantastic once again).

The balance of the film is off: the first half too languorous, the climax too rushed. A big problem for me was that I didn’t get why Chani became so mad at Paul – I must have blinked and missed it. Zendaya emoted very well but her motivation was undersold and contrived. Austin Butler gives a strong performance as Feyd-Rautha and is convincingly menacing whereas Dave Bautista’s Beast Rabban is a diminished figure and I couldn’t understand what he was shouting half the time.

I remained intrigued and enthralled throughout, although rarely moved, and everything looks and sounds impeccable. Zimmer even serves up a wrenching, if underused, love theme (which reminded me a tad of another tune but I have yet to put my finger on what it is… Update: I worked it out - it's Gustavo Santaolalla's theme for Brokeback Mountain!).

They can’t leave things here – I do want to see more.