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The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Season 1 (2019)
Creators: Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews
Director: Louis Leterrier
Voice Cast: Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nathalie Emmanuel, Simon Pegg, Mark Hamill, Jason Isaacs, Donna Kimball, Victor Yerrid, Caitriona Balfe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Andy Samberg, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sigourney Weaver
PLOT:
"Return to the world of Thra, where three Gelfling discover the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis' power and set out to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world." - IMDB.com
Another world, another time...
It's been 37 years since Jim Henson's highly ambitious fantasy The Dark Crystal was released. While it wasn't the biggest hit upon it's release, it's developed an incredible cult over the years with books, comics and such expanding the world. Even if you haven't seen the film, you've probably, at least, seen what a Skeksis looks like.
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| From South Park: Tsst (2006) |
Now, like any fantasy property, it would take a while to explain all the species and creatures of this world but here are the basics: Gelflings and Mystics - good, Skeksis - bad.
Also, like any prequel to a property, my worry was I was going to be sitting through this ten-episode season and think, "okay, yeah, yeah, I know what's gonna happen. Why bother?"
Thankfully that was not the case!
The story centers around three characters, each a part of the seven Gelfling clans. There's Rian (voiced by Taron Egerton, performed by Neil Sterenberg), a member of the Stonewood Clan and a guard of the Crystal Castle. Brea (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, performed by Alice Dinnean), a princess of the Vapra Clan. And Deet (voiced by Nathalie Emmanuel, performed by Beccy Henderson) an animal caretaker of the Grottan Clan.
Each of them realizes and tries to help their Gelfling brothers and sisters see how their rulers - the Skeksis - have manipulated them and have lied to them.
Anyone who has watched this and the original film can tell how much care the team went into recreating this world and expanding it. They had a pretty good blueprint to go off of.
Say what you will about the original film but there's one certain thing - Jim Henson knew how to create a world! A goal that he and Brian Froud had when creating the world of Thra was that once the story ended the world continued to exist. And this series shows that existed before the events of the film and will continue to exist.
If I had to pick something to criticize with the original film is that the lead Jen (performed by Henson and Kiran Shah, voiced by Stephen Garlick) is boring. Like, mayonnaise on white bread boring. Part of that is that he's one of the last of his kind and nothing really makes him stand out, besides being the last of his kind and he doesn't know ANYTHING about his heritage - his parents were murdered when he was young and was raised by the Mystics (urRus). Even Kira (performed by Kathryn Mullen and Sinah, voiced by Lisa Maxwell) who is a bit more interesting due to her connection with nature and has wings, she was still raised by Podlings after her parents' deaths.
In this series, though, each of our three leads stands out magnificently. Rian goes through an arc where he must confront his fears and cease running (figuratively and literally). Brea bares a strong resemblance to characters like Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991). Someone who takes it upon herself to see all there is to learn and use it to better society.
Then there's Deet. She is the best character in the entire series and if you disagree... that's fine. I love Deet's optimism as she wonders from her underground home into this world that quite frankly should terrify her. But she sees it as this brave new adventure and is happy to go on her quest.
Speaking of the Gelflings, I feel the creative team gave us a good strong first look at the Gelfling's civilization. In the 'making of' special about the series, they discussed how none of the seven Gelfling clans are based directly on a group from our world. But they have similarities in how they act and in how they can hold prejudices over their fellow man... er Gelfling... over petty and nonsensical reasons. The working class Stonewood hate the upper-class Vapra because they're rich, and the Vapra view everyone as lesser because... whatever.
But despite the show holding a mirror to us about this reality, there's one thing it keeps intact that Jim himself would approve - optimism. One of Henson's most famous quotes is, "I know I drive some people with what seems like ridiculous optimism, but it has always worked for me." That is reflected in this show. Despite the overwhelming odds going against our heroes - including betrayals and the unfortunate fact that we know what's gonna happen to the Gelflings - the show maintains optimism that things will eventually resolve themselves fine.
Before I go further, I want to highlight one performer in particular - Louise Gold. While everyone in the show was amazing, it was a real pleasure to see that she performed a bunch of characters and brought a lot of the personality to Maudra Argot the Shadow Bender of the Grottan Clan.
Real quick: going off the whole "what Jim would want" idea. The way this show uses both practical puppet effects and CGI together is exactly what he would want. Make no mistake, the characters and creatures in the show are puppets (or at least practical effects) but they use the CGI to enhance them with any possible shortcomings.
Then there's the Skeksis... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Much like in the original film, each of these creatures is given an amazing amount of detail with their costumes and the harsh and twisted bodies, reflecting their harsh and twisted ways!
Simon Pegg does a pretty good job at mimicking the late Barry Dennen's Chamberlain voice, Mark Hamill was more than perfect for the voice of the Scientist, and Jason Isaacs did a great job and providing a voice for a character we saw only briefly in the film.
We some of them from the original in this film but we get "new" ones (some were first introduced in expanded universe stuff); the slimy (figuratively and literally) skekLach the Collector (performed by Helena Smee, voiced by Awkwafina), the brutal skekVar the General (performed by Kevin Clash and Katherine Smee, voiced by Benedict Wong) not to be confused with skekUng the Garthaim-Master (he doesn't appear but gets mentioned), the sadist skekMal the Hunter (performed by Kevin Clash, voiced by Ralph Ineson), and the defector skekGra the Heretic (performed by Damian Farrell, voiced by Andy Samberg). And each one is fantastic.
In particular, I like how agile they made the Hunter. The way he moves so fast and his sadist need to fulfill his hunt make him a terrifying foe for our heroes. With the Heretic, I like how they make him and his uRu counterpart - urGoh the Wanderer (voiced by Bill Hader) - basically into a bizarre Ernie and Bert style couple.
Speaking of the Mystics, if I had one criticism it would be I wish they did more with them. Outside of the stuff with the Wanderer and Heretic, the only other Mystic in urVa the Archer (performed by Olly Taylor, voiced by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) - the uRu counterpart to the Hunter. He's great and I love how they handle the story involving those two but I wish we got to see more. I know the other Mystics by this point are probably hiding "far from the castle" but still maybe something to show they're present elsewhere. Hopefully, they'll be featured more in the next season.
I could honestly go on and on about this show. Whether it's Aughra's story arc or how awesome the Podling Hup is but I want you all to experience it. It's all on Netflix along with the film and the behind the scenes special, please check it out!
SCORE: 5/5
Quick fun fact: The title of each episode is a quote from the original film.
What did you think of the series? Like, dislike, indifferent? Share your thoughts!
All images and video clips belong to their respective sources.
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