Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement and Iain Morris helm this new take on Terry Gilliam's 1981 adventure film, with mixed results.
It’s a world of remakes and reboots these days, from barn burner summer blockbusters like Twisters to the enduring success of the series Cobra Kai. Evidently, everything is ripe for a redux, and the newest title to be revamped is Terry Gilliam’s 1981 classic Time Bandits. And while series creators Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement and Iain Morris bring plenty of fun to the proceedings, there’s still a prevailing question of “why?” at the heart of this remake.
Like the original film, Time Bandits follows a young history nerd named Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) whose bedroom inexplicably becomes the center of a major temporal dispute. Kevin goes from being able to see other times and places through his closet to getting accidentally taken in by a ragtag team who call themselves the Time Bandits. There’s the de facto leader Penelope (Lisa Kudrow), map expert Widgit (Roger Jean Nsengiyumva), empath Judy (Charlyne Yi, who departed the series at the halfway mark due to allegations of an unsafe work environment), amateur actor Alto (Tadhg Murphy) and gentle giant Bittelig (Rune Temte).
The Bandits have stolen a map of the universe from their former boss, the Supreme Being (Waititi), and are hopping through time to steal as many priceless artifacts as they can—which, due to their middling thievery abilities, is not very many. Unfortunately, they’re also being tailed by Pure Evil (Clement), who wants the map for his own nefarious purposes. He sends the fearsome demon Fianna (Rachel House) after the Bandits, though she ends up getting Kevin’s parents instead. So not only must the Bandits avoid the Supreme Being and Pure Evil, but go through time to try to save Kevin’s family and, eventually, the universe.
Fans of the film will likely have a few bones to pick with this new version, from the series’ lack of dwarf actors in main roles to its major story changes. At the same time, though, the show’s plot feels tighter and more organized than the movie’s, with Kevin’s lengthier quest to save his parents working to the ten episode series’ advantage. The later chapters have a habit of forcing emotional beats and flipping things around in ways that are more confusing than intriguing, but, on the whole, it’s a solid enough story.
Time Bandits also has a difficult tone to strike, with the series opting for a lighter vibe than the movie. Silly wordplay and idiomatic humor remain a hallmark of Waititi and co’s comedic impulses, and they earn a fair share of chuckles throughout the series. With that, it’s important to note that while Waititi was the breakout talent of What We Do in the Shadows, Clement arguably has a better track record these days (especially when you know that co-creators Waititi and Morris wrote the abysmal Next Goal Wins together); he ends up with the most writing credits on Time Bandits, and he deserves his flowers for it—and for Pure Evil’s pronunciation of “wi-fi.”
As for the cast, the Bandits are led by Kudrow, whose singular comic delivery still shines in the midst of fantastical adventures. Murphy and Nsengiyumva are the other standout Bandits, and Kiera Thompson ends up being an unexpected delight as Kevin’s younger sister Saffron. Plenty of plaudits go to the featured actors in one-off episodes across the series as well; the gangsters populating the Harlem Renaissance in “Prohibition” help make that episode a series high.
And while Time Bandits does well in making history feel as exciting as Kevin thinks it is, it suffers profoundly from an overreliance on computer generated effects. Most of the magic from the original movie comes from inventive and sprawling sets; here, that kind of imagination is all but obscured by obvious green screens. In its most epic moments, the show feels plastic. The majesty of the Mayan Empire and the terror of Pure Evil’s Fortress of Darkness are as hollow as the Trojan Horse, which also gets a pretty lame visual representation. It’s frustrating to know that these sorts of feats could be accomplished with practical effects and clever camera tricks over 40 years ago, yet today’s special effects only seem to include shiny CGI.
Better story, worse effects isn’t typically what you’ll get out of a remake, but that’s what Time Bandits has to offer. The series brings you along for a lively (if not entirely live-action) adventure, and it is a generally fun ride. At the same time, though, you can’t help but wonder if this blueprint really required a ten episode remodel, especially one that doesn’t look as good on the outside.
