by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
It’s not enough for a movie to just stay a movie anymore. In this current era of entertainment, shared universes are the trend. Lots of movies get TV spinoffs. While Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Star Trek have been doing it with tepid results, Dune is the latest franchise to jump on the trend of telling a story that is too much to explain in a movie. Of all the films to try this tactic, Dune is one of the more deserving, with its rich, unexplored lore which has yet to be explored onscreen.
Set 10,000 years before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s films, Dune: Prophecy traces the origins of the Bene Gesserit. Known as the Sisterhood back then, Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula (Olivia Williams) Harkonnen are the group’s leaders. They dream of restoring the Harkonnen name and working to help influence the Imperium.
Dune: Prophecy shares several similarities with Villeneuve’s Dune films, particularly on the technical side, with impressive set design, special effects, and costumes. In addition, the score is outstanding, even with Volker Bertelmann stepping in after Jónsi departed the project. For a television series, the show’s visual aspects far outmatch many other shows today. It will never be as good as the movies, but it is a novel attempt nonetheless (a theme that will continue to emerge).
An issue at hand is how the creative team decides which story is worth telling on Earth. Dune is already in a weird spot, because there is already so much to delve into that making an odd decision about what to adapt could be problematic. I concede that it comes down to personal preference at the end of the day, but the Bene Gesserit was a part of the story that I wasn’t interested in. Rebecca Ferguson is fantastic in Dune, but I wondered how they could make the origin story of the Bene Gesserit interesting, while enriching my experience with the franchise. The solution was adding a ton of political chess and Game of Thrones-style jockeying for power.
The positives of this choice are that several actors are given the chance to chew up scenery and act. In particular, Watson and Williams are astonishing in their roles. Their quest to restore the Harkonnen name is one I found far more interesting than their desire to put more Sisterhood members in positions of influence.
Dune: Prophecy briefly explains how the Harkonnen name was tarnished during the war against the thinking machines 80 years before the series’ events. Valya and Tula are fiercely loyal to their causes, but they’re also incredibly stubborn, with a singular vision for what they want to accomplish. Valya gets a little more screen time, because she’s the Mother Superior, which enables Watson to command the screen at any given point. On the other hand, Tula is in lockstep with Valya until the end of the series, where we discover something about her that shakes her to her core. Williams is excellent in this, matching Watson’s ruthlessness, while also forging her own path.
Another character the show introduces is Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a soldier who is trying to get in the good graces of Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) to enact some vengeance on the Sisterhood. You don’t find out until later in the series why he’s set his eyes on the Sisterhood, but it isn’t as shocking as the writers hoped. Desmond also has a gift that can help him defeat the Emperor’s enemies, while also breaking the influence that the Sisterhood has on rulers. Although Desmond is an interesting character, he goes through a lot in a short time, and it feels like whiplash every time he’s on screen. The series is only six episodes long, which isn’t enough time for him to develop. Fimmel is serviceable in the role, but I wish he had more development as a character.
One of the series’ weakest points is the lack of character development for many non-Harkonnen characters. Dune: Prophecy has the daunting task of introducing this story and dozens of new characters. Even at six hours, it doesn’t do a great job of presenting the characters and giving them something to do that’s worth remembering their names.
Moreover, the story isn’t being done any favors, because there are so many competing factions that it’s hard to keep up. In addition, Dune: Prophecy starts painfully slow. The series doesn’t pick up until Episode Three. Thankfully, the final episode is remarkable, but I’d already felt myself already checking out by the end of the fifth episode, and it became hard to finish. I try to give each show the benefit of the doubt, but this bored me to tears at times because there is so much going on that it’s hard to focus.
In an attempt to expand an existing world, Dune: Prophecy includes so much that it becomes overstuffed. Yes, I concede that the Bene Gesserit isn’t a story I would have wanted to see, but an audience out there wants to see how they rose to prominence. Thankfully, the performances and visual flair excel, which helped keep my attention and get me to the end (just barely). It’s a slog sometimes; I hope Season Two has more action, to keep up with pacing issues. This wasn’t for me, but more Dune content isn’t destructive either, because there’s so much to explore, a saving grace for a series that just didn’t get my attention the way I was hoping it would.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Dune: Prophecy is currently streaming on Max
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