With “Dune: Part Two,” director Denis Villeneuve did the unthinkable. He made a Hollywood sequel — really, the second part of his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s influential 1965 novel — that was more satisfying than the first. Everyone returned to the desert planet Arrakis, including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Josh Brolin, this time joined by new characters played by Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux.

The movie feels both bigger and more intimate than before, full of action and just as much emotion. It’s a more complicated, nuanced piece of machinery from one of our most talented filmmakers and one of the more riveting big-screen spectacles of the year.

2021’s “Dune” was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won in six categories, including cinematography, production design, score and visual effects. What makes this accomplishment even more impressive is how many...