NPR's Glen Weldon says Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two finishes the saga's setup
- The sequel picks up where the 2021 film ended, with Paul meeting the Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya), whom he had only seen in prophetic dreams.
- The film lets the factional fights that stayed in the background of the first movie boil over, with the Harkonnens led by Stellan Skarsgård's bald, black-clad Baron playing his nephews Rabban (Dave Bautista) and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) against each other.
- Weldon says the sequel adds conflicts and characterizations that Frank Herbert's 1965 novel never developed, which he thinks it should have.
- The review praises Villeneuve's visual sweep and the film's large battle scenes, and Weldon calls the ending a successful dismount from the story.