my god... what a masterpiece.

denis villenueve is a master at his craft. it's so clear that he knows what he's doing, and he executes it perfectly. everything comes together, whether it be sound design, the lighting, the composition of the shots, it all feels purposeful and makes it a wonder to behold.

for a film with this runtime, i was slightly scared that it would hold so much material that it would become overwhelming, but instead it does the opposite of that. everything the first film did wrong, this fixed it. during the entire showing i was never bored, even at its long length. while i do believe it stretched just a little at the end, it wasn't unbearable.

the tactic of "show, don't tell" is what helps drive the story. due to villenueve's dislike of dialogue, every single time they speak it's important and helps drive the plot forward. exposition doesn't feel clunky because you know it's there for a reason. we don't hear characters talk about their motivations, we see what drives them. we aren't told which characters are "the bad guys", we are shown their actions and left up to decide from then on.

overall, it's experiences like this that remind me why i love the art of film ☺️
(and if we don't get dune: messiah i riot!)