#NowWatching #Dune

I still can’t believe that anybody thought this could work, but I admire pretty much everybody involved for giving it their best effort.

I don’t think David Lynch’s “Dune” is a forgotten masterpiece, but I am glad it exists.

“Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you...”

You can tell that “Dune” exists in the shadow of “Star Wars”, although it does try to awkwardly cover that by having a woman stare at the camera and read the opening scroll to you.

Conversationally, which is a bold choice.

... and then, following that exposition dump with the opening credits, and following the credits with ANOTHER exposition dump...

To be fair, “Dune” is a complicated text, but the film really and consciously doubles down on it.

And then the Emperor himself delivers a mountain of exposition of his secret plan to the Guild.

Again, this seems to be the influence of “Star Wars.” There’s a weird sense that the production team on “Dune” really leaned into the world-building and the lore.

Like, if I didn’t know what House Atreides and House Harkonnen are, the film just figures that repeating those names over and over again will make it sink in.

And then leading to a monologue about the Kwisatz Haderach.

By these standards, the subsequent scene in which Paul takes a test that just happens to explain what Mentats are, how the worms work and where Baron Harkonnen lives is relatively elegant.

That’s a good five scenes of exposition, punctuated only by the opening credits.