Dune: Part Two

No, I’m not going to make the Dune 2: Galactic Boogaloo joke. But I guess I just did, and exactly one of the seven people who have read this page get it. Which I’ll take, honestly. But this is about the 2024 continuation of 2021’s blockbuster motion picture film, Dune. A film where absolutely nobody was trying to save Miracles, but there were quite a few who were trying to create them. Another Breakin’ 2 joke that you didn’t ask for and definitely didn’t want. That’s the kind of fan service I give the people on this site. Honestly, though, I’m stalling talking about Dune: Part Two because I just re-watched it at home after seeing it back during its theater release, and it is… way too long. And, frankly, just a wee bit boring.

I hate people who complain about runtime. Sorry, I don’t hate them, I just don’t appreciate moviegoers bitching about getting too much for their money. And at home you have a FF button on your remote. Some video services even have the ability to stream at multiple speeds. Use it if things are dragging. Or break it up into multiple watches. But, even with all these amazing solutions, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a philosophical issue with a long-ass movie. One that thinks its pacing need not be beyond glacial because it’s making a heady comment about oil or the Middle East or somesuch nonsense. This is a thinking man’s sci-fi soap opera! Directed by a guy, Denis Villeneuve, who basically said dialog is useless, but made a pretty talky film nonetheless. Exposition-heavy, if I were to be judgy. Point is, I’m okay with long films if the time is used efficiently and the thing moves briskly. In the theater it was tailbone numbing. At home, it was practically interminable. Dare I call it a slog.

There are a lot of cool elements to this film. Of course it looks really good. The set designs, ship designs and everything else are amazing. The special effects are top-notch. Though the worm-riding still looks kind of stupid, but I’m not sure it’s just conceptually kind of a stupid-looking thing. I have no quibbles with any of the filmmaking itself. It is a prime example of what an almost $200 million budget can buy you. Every dime is on the screen. But the plot and focus just feels off at times. In what I understand to be a pretty complicated and lengthy novel, they still couldn’t stick in everything even with hours and hours of runtime. So they had to compress some storylines while zooming in on others. It just feels like Villeneuve is less interested in the relationships than he is some of the other things. Meaning the impact of some deaths are less impactful. The interactions between people are sometimes a little confusing because those cross-relationships are given short shrift. To mostly highlight battles and those scenes that, true to Denis’ word, involves way less human interaction — aka, dialog. Except when they do.

As a person who seems to only see Marvel movies in the theater these days, I see why some films like Dune: Part Two should be seen on a large screen with rumbly audio. It really suffers once you move it to a home theater environment because the spectacle is really what it’s about. Even with my decent screen and pretty good stereo setup, it’s just not the same. It’s not as abrupt or disappointing as seeing, say, Avatar at home for the first time (oof, that was real weird), but it is definitely a huge comedown. Even the acting — especially Timothée Chalamet’s — is diminished by the non-theater experience. I thought he was pretty okay upon first viewing, but secondarily it was evident how absolutely scrawny and underwhelming he was as a force of nature. Unlike Austin Butler’s freakish bad guy character, who actually jumped off the smaller screen, but in one of those compression choices, was killed off entirely too quickly. Florence Pugh was Part Two’s Zendaya, given very little to do other than look interesting and do a little face acting. Maybe Anya Taylor-Joy, who is given about ten seconds of screen time, can be Dune Three’s Florence Pugh! It’s as if the movie has both too much going on, but also not enough of any one thing.

Look, this is a very capable and professionally-made film. Like Arrival, or even Alex Garland’s Annihilation, if you want stunning visuals and super-specific vibes, you will love Dune. If you’re a stickler for narrative continuity and brevity, it might not be your jam. That all said, I’m sure I’ll revisit this film before venturing out to see the next film in the installment in a couple years, after which I’ll read this and realize what an asshole I’ve become and spend the whole day wondering if I have an RFK Jr. brain worm or just hate all things good.