Dune: Part Two is a superior sequel to director Denis Villeneuve’s intellectual and grandiose original and a work of excellent science fiction. Maintaining the massively appealing visual scale, superb performances, killer action, and well-thought-out narrative with loads of abstract themes about human impulsivity, it determines how to navigate the book’s exposition with less drag than in the past. Plus, Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides stands bolder this time, finally feeling like a compelling protagonist. The story can still feel muddled under information overload and minutely disjointed sometimes, but overall, Dune: Part Two is a mesmerizing continuation of this complicated universe.

Following hot on the same trail that Dune: Part One ended on, Part Two continues and escalates the current war on Arrakis. Paul Atreides (Chalamet) must learn what it takes to be a leader even in his reckless youth to save Arrakis from the Harkonnens—now led by the psychotically ruthless Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen—and the other Great Houses under Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken). Together with his now Reverend Mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), his Fremen warrior lover Chani (Zendaya) and the rest of the Fremen population, Atreides must understand the burdens that come with leadership, and learn to ward of the temptations its power brings. Either Fremen is free, or no one is.

What makes Part Two both a stellar sci-fi flick on its own and a superior sequel to the original is Villeneuve’s sharper fine-tuning between scope and narrative. It has an organically poetic script, kinetic performances, bone-rumbling sounds, and eye-popping sights and action, yes. But the magic here is its archaic themes. It plays around with impulsivity, love, loyalty, morality, and legacy all at once in intergalactic scenarios, with heavy-handed writing befitting these kinds of characters. No one is entirely free from wrongdoing or complicated connections, and everyone has their own interests that create conflict—and that comes through in everything. While anywhere else, this kind of writing might hinder and even does a bit even in Part One, Part Two soaks it in because it’s part of the world and character building.

Chalamet also finally feels suitable for the role. Part One’s largest issue was his passivity throughout. While Atreides is partially written that way, Chalamet is still too hollow in the first half. Here, he’s bold, charismatic, and calculating from the start. Watching an enlivened Atreides mix with the other well-established components fills in many gaps.

Of course, there are still a few issues. Information overload still plagues this time, but Villeneuve and crew improved their exposition technique by throwing in dreamy imagery along with it. It’s also quite long, which is hard not to feel. Beyond that, Dune: Part Two is an evocative, unpredictable, and intriguingly dense wrap-up for the first Dune novel at the movies. For action fans, intellectual fans, sci-fi fans, and character study fans alike, this film is an astonishing adventure.