When your central criticism of a movie is that it should be longer, it feels nitpicky. The scope of this thing is incredible, and it just…flows. So many things thoroughly shocked me, even if they were in trailers. It was an experience, to say the least, especially in IMAX.

The first one was an excellent mood piece that had action break up the melodic collection of stares and dialogue. This film was the opposite, as it’s almost wholly set pieces of some form, whether they’re through action or from actors firing on all cylinders. Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Rebecca Ferguson, and Florence Pugh all have scenes you could single out as the best moments here. It’s something you can feast on. There were a few scenes of dialogue that briefly brought me to tears. Eyes were watering. It could be the pollen, but it’s probably the sand. 

I’ll probably have more to say later after an inevitable rewatch. It’s just. Huh. There are flaws that I don’t think I necessarily care about. Part of me wants to 4.5 this, but I don’t think that would be right for something at this level.  I find the story profoundly interesting. I can’t wait for Messiah. I'm sorry if I’m not making sense, but I need to see this again. How do you even talk about this, let alone write? Jeez. 

I’ve written countless last sentences of this review, but there’s one moment that sums up the charm of this movie for me. In the middle of one early set piece, Chani/Zendaya giggles before a massive explosion. It’s very short but alarming, like many other welcomed moments of levity. It’s a great addition to these movies after Part One was relatively serious. There’s something about that moment, and others, that illustrates the success of this film.

It’s artsy and mainstream, self-serious while self-aware and propelled by a narrative it feels burdened to push forward. It is idealistically what most big-budget blockbusters should aim for—grand expressions of ideas and vision. Prophecies are stories, and occasionally, those stories come true. Either naturally or forcibly. Dune Part Two doesn’t rigidly say it happened either of these ways. The answer is somewhere in the middle, in a spice-induced dream, on the desert plain, on Arrakis. It happened, and it’s now history—the past. I can only wait to see what happens after. 

Or I could read the book, but you get what I mean.