Atlas Shrugged part I was an excellent movie and adaptation of the source material. While Parti II is a good adaptation, a complete change in the cast spoils it a little...
The world continues to crumble. While the most brilliant minds - including artists - continue to quit, people like Dagny hold on to hope. She's trying to make the engine she found to work while having to deal with the consequences of the Fair Share Law, which completely disturbs business. Hank Reardon, on his side, is preyed upon for his metal and Big Gov wants to look at it more closely...
First, the negative: every single actor was recasted for the movie. It was mostly a mis: Dagny aged 15 years, Hank now has throat cancer, Eddie took a massive injection of steroids, Lilian's band make her look like a dominatrix, etc. But James' Taggart recast make him look even more evil, Francisco looks more credible, especially for his monologue, and the various bureaucrats look as cold and calculating as one would expect. Also, why cast Sean Hannity as a supporter of John Galt? People at Fox News support free(ish) markets in theory only.
On the positive side, the adaptation is faithful enough to the novel up to that point. The world we see, especially after Directive 10-289, looks eerily similar to what we have now, especially post-pandemic. Big Gov gets in the way in order to "help", and only makes things worse. While I worship nor blindly support anyone, I can only imagine what anyone getting into business must go through to comply with regulation. Dagny can't even get through what 10-289 imposes...
In short, notwithstanding the recast, Atlas Shrugged II is definitely worth watching even if you didn't read the book. Now. more than ever, this book needs to be put in the current affairs section of bookstores.
Final rating: 3.8/5 (the recast took away a big chunk)