Feels peculiar to watch what is potentially the best movie of the year in March and yet here we are. Naoko Yamada, it's all up to you now.

Many a time the new Dune saga has been called the Lord of the Rings of sci-fi, but the similarity between The Two Towers and this film goes beyond being the bridge which connects the bookends of a trilogy. They're also alike in that they're both their respective directors' very best works.

If 2021's first chapter was a rehearsal, albeit a fantastic one, we're undoubtedly treated to the main event now. Every moment of the film screams "dream project," and I know the previous installment was that as well, but after successfully testing the waters, Denis Villeneuve is able to confidently go into full beast mode here. Which he does. Few things in cinema are quite as exhilarating as a maximalist spectacle pulled off with impeccable taste, utmost attention to the filmmaking and endless care for the audience, and Part Two provides all of the above in spades.

Everything they say is true: the great achievements of the first film are achieved here as well, only even more impressively, significantly so in certain areas. For instance, if Part One used brutalism for mostly architectural purposes, Villeneuve fully infuses the sequel's very DNA with it, employing it not only for the imagery but also as a mood tool. To my surprise, he also shows that he's more than capable of going weird and abstract, whereas before I found his (pretty much only) weakness to be his directorial pragmatism. After not getting that feeling of je ne sais quoi even from Part One, I started to fear that Villeneuve would never give it to me. Glad to be proven wrong. And to see that as soon as that floodgate came open, he immediately made his masterpiece.