The countdown has begun for the eagerly anticipated release of Dune 2, scheduled for March 1. Director Denis Villeneuve promises it will be the main course following the appetizer of the first instalment. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 12, the film is based on Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel, following the journey of Paul Atreides, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. Assigned as stewards of Arrakis, a vital planet for the spice melange, Paul joins forces with Chani and the Fremen, seeking revenge for his family's destruction. As he faces a pivotal choice between love and the universe's fate, he must avert a grim future only he can envision. Alongside Chalamet and Zendaya as Chani, Austin Butler plays the "psychotic" Feyd-Rautha. Dune Part Two: Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux and Others Feature in Striking New Posters Unveiling Intense Character First Looks (View Pics).

Before buying tickets for the movies, read the critic's review here.

The Guardian: Villeneuve shows such ambition and boldness here, and a real film-making language. But I can’t help feeling now, at the very end, that though it’s impossible to imagine anyone doing Dune better – or in any other way – somehow he hasn’t totally got his arms around the actual story in the one giant, self-contained movie in the way he got them around his amazing Blade Runner 2049. There’s no doubt that Chalamet carries a romantic action lead with great style, even though there is so much going on, with so many other characters, that his heroism and romance with Chani is decentred. But this is a real epic and it is exhilarating to find a film-maker thinking as big as this.

The Independent.co.uk: There are moments in Dune: Part Two that feel so audacious, they play out as if they were already etched onto the cinematic canon. A lone figure stands astride a mountainous worm as it pummels through the sand like Moses parting the Red Sea. A man is trapped by a psychic seduction, its effects splintering across the screen in what could only be described as an indoor thunderstorm. Gladiatorial combat takes place on a planet with an environment so inhospitable, its colours so drained, that it looks almost like a photographic negative. Dune: Part Two, like its predecessor, is a work of total sensory and imaginative immersion. As precious as the spice of Arrakis itself, it’s the ultimate payoff to 2021’s great gamble, when filmmaker Denis Villeneuve chose to adapt half of Frank Herbert’s foundational sci-fi novel, with no guarantee a sequel would ever be made. Dune Part 2 Trailer: Timothee Chalamet Leads the War for Arrakis Alongside Zendaya in Denis Villeneuve's Upcoming Sci-Fi Epic (Watch Video).

Watch Dune Part 2 Trailer:

BBC.com: Denis Villeneuve's epic science-fiction sequel abandons logic and clarity – but ends up being one of the oddest pieces of art-house psychedelia ever to come from a major studio, light years away from the average Hollywood blockbuster. Villeneuve and his co-writer, Jon Spaihts, just don't give any of the characters enough interesting things to say or do, despite the 166-minute running time at their disposal. The heart of the film is, supposedly, the romance between Paul and Chani, but it's so underdeveloped that it's impossible to care whether or not they will live happily ever after. And who knows if they do live happily ever after, anyway? Dune: Part Two takes us to the end of Herbert's first Dune novel, but numerous plot strands are left hanging, presumably in the hope that they'll be tied up in Dune: Part Three.

Above the Line: A bonafide masterpiece that delivers on the promise of the first movie, while adding so much more in terms of layers and depth.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 22, 2024 12:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).