Time Bandits

So I started watching this as a big fan of the original film; one of my favourite films. For about the first ten minutes I hated it. And initially I thought it was just Political Correctness gone wrong to change the physical nature of the original bandits. But then I stopped comparing and started to appreciate this for what it is.

It's a modern take on an old tale, but is well made, with some great characters, and a few genuine 'laugh out loud' funny moments. I've just watch the first two episodes and can honestly say I'm really enjoying it.

The young lad playing Kevin is brilliant and, despite what a few other reviews have said, Lisa Kudrow has a really great character too.

I am so glad I ignored the negative reviews. It's cute and funny and I ended up liking it enough to binge it. I never got bored as it's non stop action through all the historical periods and famous people. The scenery, sets, and costumes are also very enjoyable and well done. I found myself enjoying and chuckling at much of the sly, witty quips that constantly pop up. The actor who plays young Kevin was adorable, BTW. With each espusode you like each of the bandits more and more, even Lisa Kudrow's character despite her less than stellar acting. If you have a sense of humor and fun you will enjoy it.

The nostalgia police are out in full force to bash this show but it's actually brilliant. The people who rate it poorly will almost never be satisfied with a remake because their memories of the classics are all viewed through rose colored lenses. People were right about the Willow series, which actually was an unwatchable disaster, but the harsh critics are wrong about this. I have great respect for the integrity of IMDB ratings. I use them to filter out all of the garbage, so if people are going to gang up to distort the quality of a show I'm going to defend it!

Taika Waititi was the best possible choice (other than Terry Gilliam himself, who's now 83) to make this adaptation. His humor is dry and witty but still appropriate for kids 10+. This is not one of his second-rate shows where you can tell he was a passive force in production. It's obvious he's a fan of the original and that he put effort into making this not just entertaining, but also insightful and even a bit educational in that it reveals the all-too-beautifully-flawed humanity of our predecessors throughout history.

The whole family will be laughing out loud at the same jokes, which is not easy to achieve. It requires a bit of wit, whereas so much humor these days takes the easy route of shock or vulgarity for adults or overuse of clichés and/or slapstick for kids. Some parts might be a little scary for younger kids (which is true to the original) but our 12 year old is thoroughly enjoying it.

Kevin was cast well. He'll be relatable to kids who don't fit the popularity mold and prefer reading and utilizing their imagination to climbing the middle school social ladder. Jemaine Clement is amazing in the roll of Wrongness... absolutely hilarious! Waititi is also fantastic in the role of the Supreme Being. The bandits may be of different proportions from those featured in the 80s but that has absolutely no bearing on the quality of their chemistry, and I think Lisa Kudrow does a fine job as well and is funny in her own right.

Our family struggles with a lack of family shows that are entertaining for both kids and adults. We usually end up in some kind of compromise where one or the other party is enjoying the show while the other one sort of loses interest and ends up looking at their phone. This show is one of the rare gems that will have the whole family sharing laughs and wanting more.

Time Bandits is light silly fun, with time travel, Jemaine Clement at his campiest, and Taika Waititi in a wig. What more could you ask for? If you're looking for something comforting and silly, this is the show for you. Do all the jokes land? No. But most of them do. Come for the jokes and stay for the rag tag found family of bandits.

Combine that with incredible effects (many of them practical effects) and lots of care put into the sets, costumes, puppetry, and extras. It's clear there was a lot of thought and work put into putting this show together. You might even learn a few things about history while you're watching!

Let me first of all frame my review by saying I'm a massive fan of the original movie.

I hadn't even heard of this until I accidentally stumbled across it on Apple TV, and given that my partner has never seen the 1981 original (disgraceful, I know) I thought we should give it a whirl.

Let's get one thing straight - This is absolutely not a remake of the film. Most of the story beats are there, but it is otherwise completely different and is very much aimed squarely at kids, with some adult humour thrown in. Admittedly it starts off... not great, just ok, but stick with it for a few episodes and it becomes very funny, especially the episodes with the neanderthals and Mansa Musa.

It doesn't have the writing genius of Gilliam and Palin, but I enjoyed it as its own thing, and not just an updated version of the much loved film.

It helps if you're a fan of Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Concords) and Taika Watiti (What We Do in the Shadows) as their humour is pretty off the wall and improvised, but if you're a curmudgeon who says things like "in my day blah blah blah..." then you'll probably moan about this.

If you have adolescent kids, you won't really go wrong here. If you enjoy offbeat, stupid humour you'll have some fun. It's not amazing, but it's much better than it has any right to be, and I had a pretty decent time watching it.

I have minor hope for a 2nd series, but we'll see.