There are still a few movies to be released (https://www.movieinsider.com/movies/2024), but it's still probably a good time to have a look at the best movies from 2024 and discuss them.
Agreed cinematography, set design and costumes were top notch, same as with part 1, but i agree with you that pacing was an issue. Imo the root cause was a change they made from the books
book/movie spoiler (not sure if the spoiler tag is necessary)
By deciding to keep Alia Atreides (Pauls sister) unborn it drastically shortened the time frame they spend with the Fremen, getting immersed in their culture and gaining their trust/support, from years to to months. That means everything feels rushed and they also e.g. cut the death of Paul and Chani's first child. But then again this change was probably for practical reasons, because the movie was already long as is and it also avoided having to cast a child actor.
I had the same sentiment about the implications of
spoiler
Alia not being born
in the movie, but I also understand they were already running at almost 3 hours. Maybe an extra montage to show time passing by? Or maybe that's too cliche. Either way, it's still the best film of 2024 for me.
Part 2 was the pay-off for all the set-up in Part 1 and it was a thing of beauty (that B&W sequence really stayed with me). Not my favourite film of the year but a definite contender for top 10.