WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dune, now in theaters and on HBO Max.
In the Dune remake, it’s safe to say Denis Villeneuve brings a high degree of art and nuance that many sci-fi movies lack. It makes sense given the director’s slow-burn, character-driven stories as seen with Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. Interestingly enough, as Dune charts its journey in over two hours to show how House Atreides and the Harkonnen clan go to war on Arrakis, it becomes clear this vision is what the Star Wars sequel trilogy should have been.
The new Star Wars movies had their moments, but they couldn’t balance the nostalgia addiction of J.J. Abrams and the bravado of Rian Johnson to subvert the lore. It led to an inconsistent series of events, with the movies bringing Palpatine back in a laughable fashion, introducing new Force powers, sparking a romance between Kylo Ren and Rey only to abruptly end it and undermining the idea of not needing to be a Skywalker to save the galaxy.
Apart from some cool visuals, such as the throne-room battle with Kylo and Rey, the Star Wars sequel films were more style than substance, which is why fans are so divided, and Disney’s taking time before charting new movies out. But with Dune, Warner Bros. adopts a clever approach through simplicity. It’s relatively faithful to the source material, adapting the first half of Frank Herbert’s first book, but more so, it handles the idea of a Chosen One the way George Lucas did with Luke Skywalker in the ’70s and ’80s.
Dune gives Paul Atreides a big journey of self-discovery, but it doesn’t complicate things like Star Wars did with Rey’s lineage and her destiny. Paul’s simply harnessing his mind control from Jessica’s heritage while trying to figure out what his visions of Chani as his beloved mean for the future. He even has a mentor for a bit in Liet Kynes, akin to Obi-Wan Kenobi, who also dies pretty early in the journey, which helps to push Paul even further, as he doesn’t think he’s got much help to come.
As this happens, Dune accomplishes what Star Wars meant to do — incorporate sprawling worlds such as Arrakis, dark shadowy villains like the Harkonnens, throw scary monsters at viewers via the Sandworms and then have Paul become the messiah the rebels can sense is inside him when he connects with the Fremen. What makes all these work is they aren’t forced, as Paul doesn’t conjure magic out of anywhere — he uses his mom’s powers, his military training from Leto and Duncan and such and ultimately balances everything out to really become a hero-in-the-making.
There’s no diverging plot, like Finn and Rose’s Canto Bight side quest, taking away from the story. Instead, it’s centered on the savior, cleverly arranging the cast around to accentuate but not disturb the transformation. Couple all this with epic action scenes that don’t barrel from one to the other, how Paul’s development isn’t rushed and how the story has aliens and an evil empire winning with seemingly immortal tyrants, it really feels like the direction that should have been taken with a new Palpatine and Darth Vader.
In contrast, Star Wars‘ sequel trilogy felt uncertain, even killing off Snoke and using a bunch of Hail Mary plays for its rebellion. In that sense, Dune is way more focused, with Paul, while nascent, feeling organic as a leader regardless of who lives or dies alongside him and despite his House’s extinction, which has an Empire Strikes Back essence. And more so, there’s nothing random pulled out of thin air to remind audiences that he is indeed the key to the war and the future, all while giving him a fallible, human aura.
To see what Star Wars could’ve been, Dune is now in theaters and on HBO Max.
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