A desert landscape, magical spices, a handsome young hero, bred to liberate the oppressed native populace—Dune: Part Two seems to have it all. But does it? Denis Villenueve’s two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic has all the right elements of success: it is#meticulously executed, action-packed, and beautiful. But our critic Jorge Cotte finds something nagging at the core of the film: Can Villenueve truly save this story from “teenage fantasy clichés”? “One of the reasons the Dune novels have been difficult to adapt” is that the saga of Paul Atriedes, the savior of the desert planet Dune, is a vast, almost overwhelming one, filled with conspiracies, machinations, and family trees. “Villaneuve compacts the storyline for clarity, keeping the most essential portions, if losing some of its intricacies. Yet some important elements get lost in the cuts.” Among them is Herbert’s own effort to challenge the messianism he depicts. “While the original series was all about the corrosive power of adulation and the wayward paths on which messianism can lead us, Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is like so much film and television today: It wields its ambivalence like a secret weapon.” Read “What’s Missing From “Dune: Part Two””