After a three year wait, audiences finally return to Denis Venilleneuve’s Dune Universe, with its exciting continuation of the second adaption of the first book that was published in 1965 which inspired many successful science fiction franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Warhammer 40k. So far Part 2 has made 660 worldwide. And before we get into Part 2, here is a rundown of the story so far.

In Part 1, the main character and prince of House Atreides, Paul Atreides, played by Timothee Chalamet, and his mother, Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson, seek the nomad natives called the Fremen from the Desert Planet Arrakis who Paul believes can help him get revenge on House Harkonnen, the rival House that staged a coup against Paul’s father, Leto Atreides [Oscar Issac], who was formerly king of House Atreides. From this point on, Paul and Jessica are brought along with the Fremen after Paul defeats Jamis [Babs Olusanmokun], a strong Fremen warrior that wanted to fight Paul to the death in a ritual duel, which ends with Paul and the Fremen looking out over a sunset on the dunes that signifies the transition into Part 2 of Paul’s journey.

Part 2 focuses more on the action of the Fremen against the oppression of House Harkonnen and the relationship between Paul and Chani [Zendaya], a Fremen woman who Paul has seen in multiple dreams of what he believes are visions of the future. The story also revolves around Paul who starts to have visions of a future holy war that will put him in command of the Fremen who will hail him as Lisan Al-Giab or the “The Voice From The Outer World”, a religious figure that is considered an off world prophet to the Fremen, which Paul refuses to accept throughout the film.

This film is a faithful adaptation to Frank Herbert’s book. The cinematography by Greig Fraser and storytelling, as well as the soundtrack and special effects of the film are impressive in every category. It is a masterpiece, especially in story and score, which was created by the legendary composer Hans Zimmer. As much as the film is great, the one problem they did have was the pacing.

Although the movie is around three hours long, the ending felt a bit rushed, leaving it open-ended with anticipation for Dune 3 or, as it is called in the book series, Dune Messiah. It does not really give us closure for some of the characters, leaving their fates undetermined and leaving the viewer on a cliffhanger for the next film.

Overall, the film is a 9.5/10 due to the amazing soundtrack and storytelling which is beautifully portrayed and shot (especially the final battle scene of the film) . The cast and their performance also adds to the success of the film, as each actor shows off a captivating portrayal of their character which could have only been improved upon if the ending was not quick to set a base for the next film.