Emily Watson, Mark Robust, Olivia Williams, and Travis Fimmel lead HBO’s bold prequel collection to Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed movies.
Plot: From the expansive universe of Dune, created by acclaimed writer Frank Herbert, and 10,000 years earlier than the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy follows two Harkonnen sisters as they fight forces that threaten the way forward for humankind and set up the fabled sect that can grow to be referred to as the Bene Gesserit.
Assessment: Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune has confirmed that when thought of unadaptable, Frank Herbert’s novels may make for essential and business successes in the proper artistic arms. With the primary movie nominated for Finest Image on the Academy Awards and Dune: Half Two destined for a similar honor, the franchise’s future has by no means been extra within the zeitgeist. Seizing the chance to discover different codecs and media, Warner Bros and HBO have developed Dune: Prophecy. This prequel collection explains the origins of the paranormal sect seen within the movies referred to as the Bene Gesserit. Chronicling the acquainted Homes of Harkonnen, Atreides, and Corrino, Dune: Prophecy takes a cue from collection like Recreation of Thrones to discover the palace intrigue of royal households, commoners rising by the ranks, backstabbing, and future to deepen the mythology of Dune past the planet of Arrakis.
Having seen 4 of the six episodes that comprise the primary season of Dune: Prophecy, I’m torn about how this collection suits alongside the function movies. So far as plot parts, Dune: Prophecy shares so much in widespread with the Video games of Thrones prequel collection Home of the Dragon, as each collection namecheck ancestors of characters from the principle collection whereas dramatizing occasions which are key to the occasions of the movies set within the distant previous. As followers of the Dune novels know, 100 centuries earlier than the primary e book, a warfare was waged between the people and the considering machines that have been destroying them. Dune: Prophecy picks up 100 and sixteen years after that warfare, The Butlerian Jihad, as Home Corrino has taken management of the Imperium. Acquainted Homes like Harkonnen and Atreides exist however are lesser in comparison with the foremost households. A lot of this collection is ready on the seat of the Imperium, the place Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Robust) guidelines alongside his consort, Empress Natalya (Jodhi Could). Javicco is making ready his daughter, Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), for indoctrination into the Sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit and marriage to forge a bond with Home Richese. This comes when soldier Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) returns from Arakkis with a message for the Emperor.
The primary episode of Dune: Prophecy units the inspiration for a way Reverend Mom Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) and her sister Tula (Olivia Williams) form the following technology of Truthsayers to regulate the varied Homes behind the scenes. We meet younger Sisters, together with Theodosia (Jade Anouka), Emeline (Aoife Hinds), Lila (Chloe Lea), and extra, as they be taught the methods of the Sisterhood whereas questioning the doubtless harmful management of Valya and Tula, which unfolds by way of flashbacks to how they gained management of the Bene Gesserit. We additionally see how a surprising occasion on the finish of the premiere episode places Emperor Javicco’s management in danger and the way Desmond Hart performs a key function in what’s to return. The ambiance of the collection feels extra opulent than the setting of Arrakis, because the Emperor lives on Salusa Secundus, a planet briefly seen as coaching grounds for troopers within the Dune movies. On Salusa Secundus, we see the nightlife of the aristocracy, which includes nightclubs teeming with spice utilization and many intercourse. We additionally go to every Home’s residence planet, starting from forested (Atreides) to frozen (Harkonnen).
The dearth of know-how is seen briefly in a sequence exhibiting the downfall of machines with robotics factoring into the plot. There are additionally connections to the Dune movies as we see swordmasters utilizing coaching shields, some photographs of huge sandworms, and the mind-controlling ability referred to as The Voice by the Bene Gesserit. There are additionally references to parts from the sequel novel, Dune Messiah, that I can’t spoil right here as it’s a main plot twist. Evidently, there’s a lot to unpack on this quick season, and by the fourth episode, I’m nonetheless not sure how they may pull all of it along with simply two chapters remaining. I can say that followers of the prequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Andersen, each of whom are credited as government producers on Dune: Prophecy, will discover quite a lot of modifications from the revealed books. Like HBO’s variations of George R.R. Martin’s novels, this collection attracts the books’ predominant timeline and plot factors and contains many characters from them. It additionally has new creations which are authentic to this collection and increase on parts from the 13 prequel books.
Among the parts of Dune: Prophecy are intriguing, such because the ability proven by Desmond Hart, which has no equal within the e book collection. The facility hierarchy throughout the Imperium is attention-grabbing, however what we see inside The Sisterhood is much extra attention-grabbing than the palace intrigue and political conversations between the established Homes we all know by title and the a number of new households you need to attempt to maintain straight. The Harkonnens are a lot completely different than the bald, highly effective empire seen within the movies, however understanding they’re monsters makes it laborious to root for them right here. Equally, the similarities between this collection and Recreation of Thrones purely from a structural standpoint make this collection really feel a bit by-product quite than an attention-grabbing foray deeper into the mythology of Dune. Travis Fimmel does some attention-grabbing work because the standalone character within the story, whereas Mark Robust seems like he’s sleepwalking by his character. Emily Watson and Olivia Williams have an intriguing dynamic of their story arcs, however they don’t have sufficient time to work collectively on display.
Director Anna Foerster (Westworld, Outlander) helmed the primary episode and the ultimate two, with John Cameron (Severance) helming the second episode and Richard J. Lewis (Westworld) helming episodes three and 4. None of those three administrators are anyplace near the visible grandeur of what Denis Villeneuve delivered to the Dune movies, making Dune: Prophecy really feel smaller than the movies that carry viewers to this story. Alison Schapker (Fringe, Misplaced, Westworld) serves as showrunner after co-creating the collection with Diane Ademu-John (The Haunting of Bly Manor), and the pair manages to provide the feminine characters their due in a present that beforehand carried the subtitle The Sisterhood. Scott Z. Burns and Dune co-screenwriter Jon Spaihts are credited as government producers, whereas Villeneuve shouldn’t be. Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Entrance) doesn’t come near Hans Zimmer’s memorable rating however does lend some gravitas to the collection.
Dune: Prophecy is a well-made collection with excessive manufacturing values and a stable solid of veterans and newcomers, but it surely can not assist however really feel like a duplicate of Recreation of Thrones set in outer area. With a restricted run of episodes for the primary season, I anticipated extra from this collection, which spends every episode too closely reliant on characters speaking to one another quite than offering a compelling argument for telling this story quite than different durations from the ten thousand years earlier than Paul Atreides arrived on Arrakis. Frank Herbert’s novels weren’t shy from sexual content material and centered closely on conversations about political motion quite than precise motion, so Dune: Prophecy doesn’t stray removed from the supply materials. Nonetheless, audiences flocked to HBO’s Recreation of Thrones as a result of it was compelling, attention-grabbing, and a novel world to go to with characters to root for. Whereas Dune: Prophecy actually has the potential to realize the primary two, none of those characters are price caring about. When you liked the Dune films, that is price watching to be taught extra background as an alternative of studying hundreds of pages, however it isn’t almost as attention-grabbing or entertaining because the function movies.
Dune: Prophecy premieres on November seventeenth on HBO.
