Feel the Power of "The Dark Crystal"

I admit that I had strong doubts about Netflix's plans to return to the world of Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal," the 1982 cult fantasy film.  While I enjoyed the movie when I was younger, I thought there were major limitations on the puppet technology that would make a full ten-hour series a difficult watch for all but the most dedicated Jim Henson fans.  Also, frankly, I didn't think that Netflix would be prepared to foot the bill to really, properly revive the ambitious "Dark Crystal" fantasy world in all its hand-crafted detail and fantastical physical tactility. I'm so glad I was wrong.

"The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance" is a prequel series to the film, one that requires little knowledge of the original to enjoy.  We're introduced to the world of Thra, populated entirely by various races of puppet creatures: the evil, duplicitous, ruling Skeksis, the seven tribes of elfin Gelfling, the muppety Podlings, and the very old, witchy Mother Aughra (Donna Kimball and Kevin Clash).  Our heroes are a trio of young Gelfling - castle guard Rian (Taron Egerton and Neil Sterenberg), bookworm princess Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy and Alice Dinnean), and cave-dwelling child of nature Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel and Beccy Henderson). Each of them individually set out on a quest to stop the Skeksis from abusing the power of the Crystal of Truth, which they use to steal life essence from Thra and its creatures in a bid for immortality.  The Skeksis are lead by The Emperor (Jason Isaacs and Dave Chapman), and his wily Chamberlain (Simon Pegg and Warrick Brownlow-Pike).

I was absolutely bowled over by how gorgeous "The Age of Resistance" looks.  Thra doesn't quite feel the same as it did in the "Dark Crystal" movie. There's much more color and brightness, with a lot of CGI enhancements and bluescreen backgrounds.  However, the characters are all real, physical puppets or full size body costumes, and it makes such a difference. The Skeksis are especially impressive, giant vulture-like monsters who are all vile in very distinct ways.  Creatures look properly fuzzy or mossy or leathery where appropriate, and you can sense their physical heft in their movements, in a way that CGI has never really been able to duplicate. Designed by Brian and Wendy Froud, there are dozens and dozens of different species to help enliven all these carefully crafted environments of alien swamps, woods, caves, deserts, and mountains.  Even if the story and characters don't interest you, the show is a pleasure to look at for the astonishing amount of care and craft that went into every aspect of Thra's unique worldbuilding.      

The story of "Age of Resistance" is more talky and complex, and the characters are noticeably more anthropomorphized to keep up.  The Skeksis are far more articulate and given more personality and nuance, with some of them initially reluctant to embrace large-scale villainy.  It helps that there's a murderer's row of celebrity talent who lend their voices to the Skeksis, including Keegan Michael-Key, Awkwafina, Mark Hamill, and Benedict Wong.  At the beginning of the series, the Skeksis are treated as benevolent overlords by the Gelflings, to be obeyed and revered. The Skeksis interact with Gelflings regularly, taking pains to hide their worst behavior and actively manipulate and deceive them to maintain their power.  A big theme of the series is getting the Gelflings to overcome their prejudices and complacency, fight against the misinformation, and band together against their oppressors.   

Unfortunately, this is also one of the show's stumbling blocks.  There is so much narrative emphasis placed on the Gelfling characters, and despite some improvements in technology that allow their faces to be more expressive, they often come across as very wooden and stiff.  Their hands never look right, there are some unfortunate stumbles into Uncanny Valley. Anything involving them in combat doesn't work at all. Director Louis Leterrier does his best to orchestrate scenes around these limitations, but is only successful up to a point.  I like the performances, and the characters are all very appealing - Deet especially - but it was always with the Gelflings where the illusion was broken, and I was all too aware that I was watching puppets. I suspect that this will bother some viewers more than others, especially as the show has otherwise done a good job of setting up the Gelflings as characters.  I love their society, with its matriarchal clan system, internal prejudices, and sprawling histories.  

        

I think "The Age of Resistance" is a degree or two more kid-friendly than the movie.  There's a lot of thematically dark material, moments of violence, a few deaths, and some heady politicking, but it's rarely as scary or bleak as the original.  "Age of Resistance" is more similar to stories like "Avatar: the Last Airbender" and "Redwall," full of all the usual tropes and earmarks of high fantasy for young adults.  There are many, many more characters, more humor, more relatable issues (like not getting along with family members), and more concessions made in general to a less patient audience.  

Unfortunately, these concessions mean a certain amount of  the film's epic scale wonder and weirdness is lost. As beautiful and faithful as the new version of Thra is, there are some things from the original that I miss.  I noticed that several of the larger scale, more complicated creatures like the Mystics and the Landstriders are scarce, maybe for budgetary reasons. I prefer the film's slower, more contemplative pace, and Trevor Jones' more full-throated score.  However, these are pretty small complaints compared to what I thought I'd be taking the show to task for.          

So, yes, the world of "Dark Crystal" is back, a little different but not necessarily in a bad way.  And while it won't be for everyone, I wouldn't be surprised if the audience attracted by this new series will end up loving Thra just as fiercely as the original "Dark Crystal" fans from the '80s ever did.

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