'Dune: Part Two' nails the dismount in the conclusion(?) of the sweeping sci-fi saga

It's been three years since Denis Villeneuve brought his twin directorial passions (breathtaking vistas, whispered dialogue) to bear on Frank Herbert's beloved 1965 sci-fi novel/spice-opera. Now that, with Dune: Part Two, he's nailed the dismount with such assured visual sweep and splendor — and enriched many of the novel's thin characterizations in the process — it's worth examining why his approach worked then, and works now.

After all, many before him had attempted to distill that thick book's internecine tale of disparate interests who jockey for galactic control using tools like war, eugenics, mind control and propaganda. What was so bracing about Villeneuve's 2021 film, besides its many, many arresting set-pieces, was its decision to leave all those plotting families and their deviously chewy schemes-within-schemes just sort