Critics’ reviews

Dune: Part Two (2024)

14 reviews from 14 publications. Critics’ score 90: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative.

Back to our review of Dune: Part Two

90
Positive
7
Mixed
0
Negative
0

The reviews are almost uniformly warm, and the praise clusters where you would expect: the scale of the action, the sandworms, Hans Zimmer’s score, and Villeneuve’s handling of material long thought unfilmable. Among the cast, Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha is the name most often singled out, with several critics also crediting Zendaya’s sceptical Chani for giving the film an emotional footing. The reservations are quieter but consistent. Sight and Sound finds the romantic leads underheated and the story shaped like a middle instalment; Deadline says the plotting drifts whenever Paul leaves the frame; /Film calls much of the running time repetitive before a strong third act; The Hollywood Reporter objects to a thin portrayal of the Fremen as an indigenous people. Most critics also note, without much complaint, that the film ends as a set-up for a third. The spread is narrow: nobody dislikes it, and the argument is only over how much it leaves unresolved.

Empire
21 February 2024 · ★★★★★ · Ben Travis
100

The critic hails Villeneuve’s sequel as a muscular war epic with staggering action sequences and strong performances, particularly Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha. It notes the film’s Middle-earthian ambition and Nolan-esque intensity but cautions it may overwhelm with non-stop grandeur.

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Total Film
21 February 2024 · ★★★★★ · Kevin Harley
100

The review positions the film as a sequel ranking alongside The Dark Knight and The Empire Strikes Back, praising Villeneuve for wrangling coherence from the source material into a completion of the story. It highlights the epic scope and cinematic achievement.

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The Guardian
3 March 2024 · Wendy Ide
90*

The critic hails the film as a jaw-on-the-floor spectacular that succeeds in adapting the unfilmable with retina-searing visuals and grandstanding performances. Austin Butler's gleefully over-the-top turn as Feyd-Rautha is singled out for particular praise alongside Hans Zimmer's thunderous score.

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Radio Times
22 February 2024 · ★★★★ · Jeremy Aspinall
80

A spectacular return to Arrakis that is well worth waiting for, with spectacular sequences, strong performances (especially Chalamet), and masterful direction and visuals from Villeneuve. Unexpected humour and a thumping score enhance the epic scope.

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Sight and Sound
2 March 2024 · Kim Newman

The critic finds it an impressive war movie-cum-swashbuckling adventure loaded with giant worms and vivid villains that occasionally upstage its key characters. The romantic leads are underheated and the story feels like an instalment of a longer saga without a true beginning or end.

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The Hollywood Reporter
21 February 2024 · Lovia Gyarkye

The critic finds the film visually stunning and engrossing as a cinematic event but limited by a nagging shallowness in its portrayal of the Fremen as an indigenous people.

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The New York Times
29 February 2024 · Critic's Pick · Manohla Dargis

The critic praises Villeneuve for delivering a bigger, more far-out spectacle than the first film, with strong performances from Chalamet and Zendaya. The review singles out the film's nimble handling of epic scope and its visual and emotional impact.

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Variety
21 February 2024 · Peter Debruge

The critic calls it a meaty, all-encompassing narrative that graduates from world-building to a satisfying theatrical event. The review singles out the strategic payoffs and the epic scale as a vote of confidence in cinema.

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Vulture
29 February 2024 · Alison Willmore

The critic calls it Zendaya’s movie, praising how her fierce, skeptical performance as Chani gives the film emotional tangibility and grounds its high-level machinations.

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Den of Geek
21 February 2024 · ★★★★★ · David Crow
100

The critic calls it a bleak and brilliant masterpiece about messiahs and the body counts they accrue. They single out the complex portrayal of Paul’s journey from vengeful son to bloodstained warmonger alongside the immersive, tactile world-building.

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NME
28 February 2024 · ★★★★ · Matthew Turner
80

The critic hails it as a stunning, sandworm-sized blockbuster with epic scope, astonishing world-building and thrilling action. They single out the jaw-dropping visuals and strong cast performances but note the ending feels slightly rushed.

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Deadline
21 February 2024 · Damon Wise
75*

The critic calls it a spectacular sequel that leans into the complicated mythos of Arrakis and its worlds, with breathtaking effects and strong world-building. However, the plotting drifts and feels episodic away from Paul, with some confusing war scenes and a stilted script at times, though it sets up a potentially stronger third film.

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/Film
21 February 2024 · 7 out of 10 · Chris Evangelista

The critic finds the film a grand sensory experience with heavy themes on faith, revenge, and messianism, but notes it feels aimless and repetitive for much of its runtime before a strong third act. Praise goes to the scale, production design, and Hans Zimmer score, while complaining about the incomplete narrative.

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Polygon
21 February 2024 · Austen Goslin

The film is a blockbuster epic that pays off Part One’s promises and is exactly the movie Part One promised it could be. The critic singles out Villeneuve’s matured filmmaking and the rare sequel that outdoes its predecessor while becoming one of the best blockbusters of the century.

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Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate