Dune: Part Two2024

I don’t know what to write. I had an amazing, immersive experience with this! The way this world is presented feels so natural, like it couldn’t be anything else, that it almost feels real. You almost forget everything here has been created. The many things the fremen do to preserve water, how they have come to understand the desert and the religion that comes out of this all work together really really well. And the beauty here doesn’t feel boring and perfect (as it does sometimes in the first movie). The worm riding scene was awesome. For something so out there and “silly” like riding a big worm, the film makes the scene feel tense, real, grounded. As if the crew behind the film studied actual worm riding in Arrakis to make sure it's properly portrayed. Not everything here is serious, though. There’s some great humor about Paul possibly being the messiah that is almost straight out of Monty Python's Life of Brian, with Javier Bardem playing a well rounded character that’s also a sort of comic relief. Back to the visuals - that black and white scene is really cool. And I like that it wasn’t afraid of being kind of weird with the fetus stuff.  I like how there’s religious imagery here that is intrinsically connected to real religions. It all makes everything that happens feel a little more evil and recognizable - just as the debate with Chani about the people doing what’s best for the people now; versus waiting for a prophecy to happen.  Paul is way more interesting here than he was in the first part. Here his visions matter and guide him to choices he otherwise wouldn’t have, he feels responsibility, he wants revenge, has conflicting thoughts about how people see him.  I had my jaw open for some of the reveals here (the ones I was able to keep myself from having spoiled) and they kept coming, with a fight near the end feeling really tense and high stakes. Overall - a movie that feels big and intimate at the same time. And yeah, I hope there’s a third one.