Dune: Part Two (2024) review

This continuation of the 2022 "reboot" of Frank Herbert's Dune books has the House Atreides in shambles, brave Paul (Timothée Chalamet) out to prove himself worthy of the rebellious Fremen - including Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and Chani (Zendaya) - in their battle against corpulent rapist Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), Paul's mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is pregnant with his sister Alia (Anya Taylor-Joy) and, to conclude matters, there's a knife duel with hairless maniac Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).  Unfortunately, it has the same exact issues as the first movie: despite the fantastic set and costume design as well as top-notch special effects (as well as a stacked cast!), Villeneuve still isn't all that adept at telling a compelling story, worrying more about the movement of the sand than his principal characters, who get lost in the massiveness of his world: even a major revelation (via drinking mysterious blue Powerade extracted from a murdered baby worm) is treated as a "so what" moment.  That's not to say there aren't a couple thrilling sequences - like Paul and Chani taking on a helicopter or Paul learning how to ride a monstrous sandworm - but they are few and far between.  Sci-fi fans seem enthralled, however, and I hope they were able to grab one of those commemorative popcorn buckets ... which could double as the most painful Fleshlights ever produced.