I'm first of all so impressed by the sheer craft on display here. This is just as well made as the first and it feels honestly on the same level, with a slightly expanded scope, and it's miraculous that something like this got made with this big a budget and is going to do this well and was made so lovingly. It is really an epic experience that you have to see on a huge screen, and I saw it in IMAX and can't recommend it enough.

But despite its bombast, the sheer mind-boggling size of it, and the thrillingly constructed action sequences, I just can't connect to the human element. For a large part of the movie, if it wasn't for the stunning sets, costumes, score, and cinematography, I'd say I would be pretty bored by the plot mechanics and character moments. Denis Villeneuve said he doesn't like dialogue and I can see why, he's just not that great at writing it. Every line is exposition.

The whole thing feels very predictable and it takes the movie so darn long to get to where I know it's been going the whole time. A lot of the plot feels like a foregone conclusion and yet it really meanders getting there. I couldn't care less about some of the metaphysical aspects of this movie, the religious themes are clunky and obvious, the characters all feel somewhat wooden. This movie demands a whole lot more of Zendaya than the last one and I'm not sure she delivers. Austin Butler can't save a very poorly written character who seems like he was made up by a juvenile boy. Dave Bautista shouting lines like "KILL THEM ALL" is cringe-worthy, and really they should have cast Alexander and Bill Skarsgard as the brothers because it's Stellan in this movie who once again is the best actor.

Again, so happy this got made and very excited for the third one, not only does it have impeccable craft but it doesn't feel like every other blockbuster out there, it definitely goes its own way and doesn't stick to the formula you'd expect in action sci-fi these days. But there's just a disconnect between the huge canvas Villeneuve is painting on and the smaller character work. I think the political machinations are the thing that Villeneuve does best and the most interesting because it feels like he's playing war games in a giant sandbox. And I wish he had focused on that instead of the spiritual elements which I think just aren't conveyed very well and drag the movie down. Still a phenomenal theatrical experience though, no doubt about that

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