ADMR – Dune is a deep and complex sci fi watch that is both too much and not enough 3.5/5

Dune: Strike One

As I’ve probably mentioned, I tried a couple of times to watch Dune part 1 on streaming and failed. The first run, I had my phone on my lap having a text convo with my football group as I started it up and found that I had questions at about the 30 minute mark. Realizing I needed to start from scratch, I bailed. Dune is a movie you have to be intentional about watching. You gotta pay attention. Because even paying attention, it’s a lot. Learning the differrent cultural names and biases takes a minute. If you aren’t into Dune immersion then you probably wont enjoy the 5 hr 10 minute (parts 1&2 total) running time.

There can be only one

The next attempt to watch Dune I was more intentional, having made sure my phone was not within reach. Unfortunately, the Average Doge had other ideas on how I should be spending my time. And as anyone who knows me can tell you, the Average Doge rules all. Strike two.

I’ve always been a third strike swinger

But on our third attempt at watching Dune, all the cosmos aligned to give us a 2 hr 35 min stretch to let the world of Arrakis wash over us. We were impressed and engaged and excited to see where Dune pt 2 would take us. Dune the first was fresh in our minds as we headed off to our Saturday night date night at our moviehaus. And that’s where things didn’t take a turn where we were expecting one.

A classic example of too much of a good thing

Dune pt 1 set the table for what we expected to be a clash of amazing proportions. House Atreides, House Harkonnen, the Fremen, the Emperor, the other families of power all vie for control and position. Assasins. Superpowers. Romance. Giant monsters. All rushing towards a final conflict. What more could you hope for?

Apparently, hoping for a final conflict was too much to ask.

Dune is more like Game of Thrones than Star Wars

What I forgot from the original Dune we got way back in the 80s is that it’s not a finite story. It’s a multi-novel epic more akin to Game of Thrones than Star Wars. And it looks like the goal here is to hook a generation into following along as the writers and producers bring us the whole journey, two and a half hours at a time. Not a bad idea, for sure. But here’s where they’re going to lose me and lots of others.

It’s a lot to take in, just like GoT. What’s NOT like Westeros and Co. is that there just isn’t an equal balance of action and interaction. Of plotting and playfulness. Of levity and gravity. Dune has, so far, been pretty much one note. And that note is intensity. And not intesity that rises and falls, waxes and wanes. It’s all the same level.  Itwouldbelikeifiwrotemyblogallinonesentenceandneverhitcapsorusedpunctuation. That makes it all just…exhausting. And that for 2.5 hours. It was enthralling for Dune the first. But after five+ hours, it’s just…I need some relief. I need some humor. I need a break.

But maybe most of all, I need some resolution.

So after 5 hours of Dune, lots has happened but it feels like not much has been resolved. Maybe it’s just because I was numb by the end of Dune pt 2, but maybe not. Because unlike Game of Thrones, where there were always plots and subplots and new characters and new intrigue, Dune just seems to plod through in a monotone way. There was no happy ending, just a promise of more of the same. I can’t remember one single moment of humor to break up the intensity. It was exhausting. By the end of the movie, I was happy to be leaving Arrakis. Resolution or no.

It sounds like I hated Dune. I didn’t. There was a lot to enjoy. Like counting how many Marvelites were in it. I counted 7 (eight if you count Brolin twice). Bronco-busting giant worms is cool. It could have used some more super-powers, the one that Chalamet’s character had was neat but barely used. The constant gravitas, while eventually tedious, was handled well. Visually it was outstanding, the special effects were grand but not overdone and, in some cases, quite subtle. It was a nice change from the flashy, over the top CGI we see pretty much everywhere.

So what does the Average Dude give Dune 1&2? I’m okay with giving it a 3.5 out of 5. I’ll go along for the ride…for awhile. I fear that, with each successive installment, my enthusiasm (and rating) might sink. If the viewership for Dune starts lagging as I suspect it might, maybe they’ll wise up and pump the brakes on the gravitas pedal. At least a bit. Maybe add some humor. Dan Millman, a modern-day philosophizer once said ‘Keep a sense of humor, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond measure.’ That’s some quality philosophizing right there.

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