![]() Production-wise, it's spectacular - what a miraculous project to undertake in 2019. It tackles tyranny, lies, paranoia, and how fear of change and the promise of comfort can make good people turn a blind eye to horror. And it's topical too, without feeling too much like a square peg in the political conversation. Once you get over that hurdle though, along with the challenge of figuring out who each character is (you'll literally meet five to six important female Gelflings in the first episode, each with white hair), Age of Resistance has a ton to offer. Play On a silly side-note, it's a little hard to overlook the idea that the Gelflings, who are the main elf-like beings of Thra, would ever see the grotesque and openly hostile Skeksis as kind and generous rulers - not just because they look like towering bird beasts, but because they're a bunch of overt a-holes. ![]() It also still has that trademark Dark Crystal juxtaposition that'll give you two characters playfully racing each other, saying something like "Last one to the top of the peak is a, ha ha ha!" and then also feature sorrowful beings being painfully drained of their life-force, sucked dry so that the vulture-like Skeksis can messily splash around in the remnants of their souls. It takes the casual cruelty of the original and ramps it up, going even darker most of the time. Sure, there are some baseline gross-out moments, involving goop and snot and ooze and whatnot, but when it comes to violence and overall trauma, Age of Resistance can pack a wallop. I'm not allowed to write openly about any characters' specific deaths, but suffice to say there are some maniacally brutal things that happen to these poor puppets. Before Gremlins and Temple of Doom helped usher in the PG-13 rating, family films could wander into some very disturbing territory. The fact that it came from the sunshine mind of Jim Henson makes it even more notable. The Dark Crystal is a hallmark of the '80s not just because of its puppetry, but because it stands as one of those classic '80s "kids films" that can actually be quite terrifying for kids - like The Last Unicorn and The Black Cauldron. And that, maybe as much as everything else (the adherence to Henson's vision, style, et al.), makes it feel cunningly connected to the original film. Not GoT-levels of grittiness, but it can be surprisingly fiendish. So if the comparisons are made due to both series containing "sprawling, scattered ensembles," then they're on the money.ģ3 Images You might argue, "Well, Game of Thrones has crudity, nudity, and gore," but Age of Resistance is pretty damn dark too. There are scattered plots involving different realms and families which, over time, congeal into one larger effort. You might see some reviews likening Age of Resistance to Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. There's enough here - in lore, in relevance, and in runtime - to craft an entire world, with labyrinthine plots involving different Gelfling tribes as well as the backstabbing plots of their "benevolent" Skeksis overlords. In fact, the show could probably stand on its own, if simply shown to someone with no context. Regardless, and aside from some of the slog that naturally accompanies seasons containing a few episodes too many, with episodes that are 10-15 minutes too long (a Netflix staple!), Age of Resistance is a worthwhile exploration - and not just for fans of the original movie. With Age of Resistance, it feels dwarfed. ![]() At the time, The Dark Crystal felt large and luminous. This is a weighty, multi-part tome driving us toward a paperback. ![]() But those were three movies that prefaced three other movies. It's not unlike watching the Star Wars prequels and knowing that everyone's going to have to lose, and lose big, by the end. Everyone we know on this show will meet a cruel and calamitous end so that the sinister Skeksis can rule for another thousand years, leaving only two Gelflings remaining on all of Thra. Play This isn't the case though and, as it stands, Age of Resistance's story will have to (eventually) end with everything going to pot.
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