'Dune: Prophecy' Review: HBO Plots Another 'Game of Thrones'

Just four years ago, when Max was still called HBO Max and Max Originals were still a thing, the nascent streaming platform released its first sprawling, strange, science-fiction epic “Raised by Wolves.” The first two episodes were directed by film legend Ridley Scott. The story balanced timeless questions about the nature of humanity and the trappings of faith with creepy space monsters and bloody battle scenes. The budget was sizable enough to shoot in South Africa and accommodate 3,700 VFX shots. By all measures, “Raised by Wolves” was set up to be a hit.

Instead, it was canceled after two seasons and wiped off the platform it was meant to help put on the map. (If you look up “Raised by Wolves” trailers and clips on YouTube, all you’ll find are “This content is unavailable” messages.) Thus is the age in which we live, where art that doesn’t hit its quotas is made to seem like it never happened, but that only makes the arrival of “Dune: Prophecy” that much more peculiar.

Here we have another sprawling, strange, science-fiction epic, asking questions about faith vs. science, fate vs. free will. Again, a respected cinematic auteur was hired to direct the first two episodes — Denis Villeneuve, the man who took over Scott’s “Blade Runner” franchise, ended up leaving the project entirely, without so much as an honorific executive producer title — and WarnerMedia once more provided enough funds for an international shoot filled with practical sets and effects (plus plenty of CGI). Heck, they even share a star: Travis Fimmel, who played a creepy soldier-turned-stowaway in “Raised by Wolves,” is back for more eerie, oft-bloody antics in “Dune: Prophecy.”

The latest sci-fi extravaganza carries a few characteristics that distinguish it from what came before. Outwardly, Mother and Father’s blue shimmering body suits have been replaced by the Sisterhood’s black, head-to-toe shawls, and “Dune” now sports the HBO brand, which “Raised by Wolves” never attained. But generally (genre-ly?) speaking, what separates the new show from the old show comes down to one key factor: “Raised by Wolves” was based on an original idea from Aaron Guzikowski (who, coincidentally, also wrote the screenplay for Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 film “Prisoners”), while “Dune: Prophecy” is driven by I.P.

And “Dune: Prophecy” doesn’t just take its cues in style and tone from Villeneuve’s very successful film franchise. Its form and function are also shaped by the very successful TV franchise that’s been around since well before HBO entered its forced marriage with Max. “Dune: Prophecy” is yet another attempt to replicate “Game of Thrones,” and while some shared building blocks help make the transition rather straightforward, it’s unclear after four episodes just what kind of future this “Prophecy” can support.

Originally operating under the working title “Dune: The Sisterhood” (and based, in part, on the 2012 novel “Sisterhood of Dune” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson), the “Dune” series (from showrunner Alison Schapker) borrows so much from outside sources it’s no wonder it lacks much of an identity of its own. In a barrage of exposition, the opening voiceover introduces our protagonist, Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson), as well as The Sisterhood and what led to its creation. A long time ago (more than 10,000 years before the movies take place), in a galaxy not too far away, mankind waged war against “thinking machines,” resulting in a permanent ban on any kind of automated technology. (Not a bad idea, if you ask me.) But while many war heroes were celebrated for their bravery, Valya’s father was banished for his cowardice, and the Harkonnen family has lived in shame ever since.

Valya, however, is sick of shame. “The history [House] Atreides wrote was spun out of lies,” she says, shouting out the family destined to produce little Timmy Chalamet’s Lisan al Gaib. So the angry teen (played in flashbacks by Jessica Barden) leaves her family behind to join a group of women “unafraid of their power.” The Sisterhood — who will become the Bene Gesserit — trains its disciples to be “Truthsayers.” Using enhanced powers of perception gained from exhaustive mental and physical conditioning, each sister sorts truth from lies on behalf of their assigned House leaders. Doing so gives them access to history-altering decisions, and the Sisterhood’s secret directive is to share what they know with each other so they can guide the people in power toward a better, brighter future — a future of their making.

But that’s not their only secret. At this time in the “Dune” chronology, the Sisterhood is split: Half of them support building a vast genetic archive to breed rulers fully controlled by the Sisters. The other half sees such authoritative control over the fate of the universe as heresy. But Valya is all for it, and she’s developing a hidden power of her own: the Voice, which she uses to devastating effect before “Dune: Prophecy” reaches the end of its overwhelming prologue.

Unlike the movies — which were praised for making Frank Herbert’s elaborate world-building relatively painless to process — the “Dune” series can’t find a way to effortlessly integrate its exposition. Besides the dense voiceover, scripts rely on repetition to emphasize confusing or important plot points (which, really, could be everything), and that leads to dialogue so clunky even pristine talents like Watson, Olivia Williams (as Valya’s sister and Sister, Tula), and Mark Strong (the Emperor) struggle to sell. The series recycles many of the movies’ slicker visual innovations, from the worms gliding across the desert to the glowing body armor that flashes blue or red during battle, but it struggles to unveil any slick innovations all its own.

Episodes are better at utilizing their big-screen predecessors’ immersive sound and production design — one character jokingly describes the Sisterhood’s homeworld as, “If you like barren landscapes and minimalism, you’ll be very happy” — and central characters carry decent dramatic potential in their dynamic conflicts. (More potential, some would say, than the flattened film leads.) “Dune: Prophecy’s” core question is one of trust: Who should be trusted to shape an empire? Should Truthsayers be taken as literally as their name implies — acting as neutral human lie detectors on behalf of emperors and princesses — or should their hard-earned witchy powers also be relied upon to plot out a better future only they can see? If it’s the latter, “better” for whom? If it’s the former, what (and who) is lost when intelligent insights are ignored? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Does absolute faith do the same?

Such questions may seem suited for expansion, but when “Dune: Prophecy” strays from the Sisterhood, its storytelling strains to keep up. Political scheming lacks sparks. The tone is too often monotonous and staid. (Where’s the sense of humor in a world where, someday, a boy will be named “Duncan Idaho”?) The lives of the royal family members seem oddly formulaic compared to what we’ve seen elsewhere. (Why would I rather see a princess hit the clubs when, in the same established universe, there are people riding sandworms?)

Some of these issues may stem from the creative turnover during “Dune: Prophecy’s” development. (Anna Foerster, who helms the premiere episode, is the third director hired to shoot the pilot, and dismissed showrunner Diane Ademu-John did so much work on the first season she’s still credited as a co-creator.) But when a series is tasked first with building a universe, its characters can feel like stepping stones to something bigger, rather than as big as they could otherwise feel on their own. “Dune: Prophecy” is too hung up on scope and too trusting in its audiences’ adoration for its preexisting I.P. to feel as strange and spectacular as it should. We’ve seen similar issues in plenty of other prequels, sequels, and spinoffs, where the pressing need to show audiences what they already love trumps any chance the latest extension has of creating something new.

Say what you will about “Raised by Wolves,” but familiarity wasn’t one of its problems — and it may prove a death-knell for something as supremely weird as “Dune.”

“Dune: Propehcy” premieres Sunday, November 17 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. New episodes will be released weekly.