More sensory rewarding than the first one, to the point that it seems to be aiming at (and succeeding) achieving the eye opening effect of the "Spice" by mere scope and spectacle. It's a film that does blockbuster so right that the shortcoming of other blockbusters really show. Everything has weight and the storytelling is very efficient (and it need to be, as there's a lot of stuff happening here, it mostly doesn't feel rushed, and again, the audiovisual weight of scene make every scene land and really help with this efficiency and narrative economy)

It's also more emotionally rewarding and thought provoking, as the more subversive elements of the "chosen one" narrative start to show, making Paul a much more interesting character, and making -and I know few will agree with me- the first film feel like just set up, a prologue, as the "meat" is mostly here.

Austin Butler and Batista were disappointing though