THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE (2019) [Louis Leterrier]

SOME THINGS ARE GOOD, SOME THINGS ARE BAD... AND OTHERS ARE MEH?

INTRODUCTION

The Dark Crystal (1982) was a perfect movie in many ways, and that was partially because Jim Henson understood what kind of movie was he making. Few well crafted characters and a simple story, you don't really need much more. It was a puppet movie that could not, obviously, take itself too serious, and yet, because of Henson's understanding of its limitations, the movie is emotional and at times both terrifying and moving. It's worth watching and re-watching. Movies with a heart are always re-watchable. When Netflix announced the TV I was very excited because I loved the movie, but after watching it I feel... indifferent.

THE BEST OF THE TV SERIES

The best thing of the TV series is the amazing work done with the puppets. It is amazing to see how much the creatures feel truly alive, I was impressed from the begining. The Gelfling feel alive, and the facial expressions, their movement... It's worth watching and worth remembering, because in a era where everything is CGI, this sheer celebration of practical effects is remarkable. I do wish this inspires others to make a similar effort and turn to practical puppets instead of computer generated monsters or creatures.

Here I must say something about the actors that stand out: the Skeksis team, and specially Simon Pegg, Mark Hamill, Benedict Wong and Jason Isaacs. The Skesis are the best part of the TV series by far, probably because they are the only characters (along with Aughra) that are drirectly drawn from the movie. Both the puppeteers and the voice actors deserve high praise for what they have achieved with these characters. At the end, they are the most enjoyble part of the series: the characters are very well defined, they are evil and kind of crazy and silly, greedy and nasty, and the actors who voice them fully embrace this concept. And Simon Pegg (Chamberlain) is, by far, the BEST chacarter of the series. Simon Pegg's performance is memorable, and he trully brings the character back.

THE BIG PROBLEM

So, what's wrong? Well, the script and the camera work. That's pretty much it. The protagonist are the three Gelfling (Deet, Brea and Rian), and the main body of the series is devoted to explore the world of the Gelfling. The question is, was this world worth exploring? I don't think so, specially in the way the TV series did. It felt overcomplicated, over-the-top and utterly pointless. It's what happens f you take yourself too serious. The idea of the seven clans and the Game of Thrones kind of dynamic was a wrong concept. Not to say the whole alternative Gelfling desing: like the Dousan or the Sifan... It's just too stereotypical, too standard science fiction, with no real effort put into it. The whole concept of uniting against the Skeksis it's just too obvious, and the climax is very over the top and unemotional. It tries to emulate Star Wars and Lord of the Ring (even Star Trek!!) in the wrong way. The movie worked because it was a simple story in a very limited world, where everything worked perfectly well due to the size of the story. But this kind of dynamic in this kind of world does not work, it's very off putting. The voice actors do their job the best they can, but still, with a bad script they are as off putting as the script is. Some lines are embarrasing and over the top, even too obvious, lacking real emotion. The script should have been worked much more. I don't think the series was worth making because the story in the movie is pretty much finished, and perfect, nothing could be added that could top the essence of the movie. But if the TV was to be made, at least they should have thought of honouring the movie by knowing how to handle the story. Perhaps a smaller story, a different scale and less amount of characters would have worked better instead of trying to make the seven Gelfling clans into the seven kingdoms of Game of Thrones.

Along with this problem is the direction and the camera work, which is, by far, even worse than the script. The camera moves very artificially, with some of the shots are off, trying to be too epic in a movie with puppets. The camera work in James Henson's movie fitted the character and the story: simple and restrained, its virtue lay in its simplicity. In the TV series, on the other hand, it's, again, over the top, it takes out of the plot and out the characters. I have also some issues with the cutting in the action sequences, but it's a minor issue in comparison with the camera work, because I understand that it's hard to shoot believable action scenes with puppets. But the camera work issue is unforgivable.

DO I RECOMMEND THE SERIES?

No. And I am sorry to say that because of the ammount of good work put into it by the puppeteers and the voice actors, who really elevate the series into something watchable. But the heart of TV series is a story, a good story, and this series lacks one. And again, I am sad to say this.