The first film I enjoyed but wasn’t wow’d by like a lot of people. It satisfied but left me wanting much more. It felt like a standard sci-fi/fantasy with story and characters that felt more like it was setting up for what’s to come.

Part 2 feels like the total payoff for those set-ups. It has everything good about Part 1, but with the full exploration of the political and religious themes and story elements of the book that always seemed so interesting from what I’ve heard of it. Paul being a manufactured messiah by the Bene Gesseret to manipulate, oppress, and control people. All part of a long sewn scheme for war, oppression, and power. Made more tragic and dark in how Paul struggles with that knowledge. It’s so dark and intricate, and exactly what I was chomping at the bit to see more of from a story of this scale and legacy.

It has all the wonderful and gorgeous visuals and spectacle of a sci-fi epic, with the thematic depth and character development that I was dying to see. It’s amazing how massive and wide-spanning this feels while doing it with such perfect visuals and pacing. I loved pretty much every minute. 

I left the theater blown away and fully Dune-pilled!