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.

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!

I have fond memories of the 80s film. Always loved the adventure. Palin and Gilliam wrote a masterpiece for the film.

This outing, in tone, is overall similar. But it seems to have it's faults. I'm not yet certain if the faults out weight the pros.

It has a generally "fun" atmosphere. Dialog and settings are light-hearted and adventurous. Sort of a somewhat "silly" walk through historical settings. That's always a great watch. So there's a big plus there.

The cons.. well... Kudrow really. This appears to be an example of when you finally get a "name" to sign onto a project and they are thrust into a primary spotlight role regardless of how well they fit the part. Kudrow doesn't fit this part. Not at all. She's completely lacking the "wannabe tyrant with a lack-of-confidence" trait in the character she's portraying. Just wrong for the character. This is Kudrow *trying desperately* to play a Monty Python (Palin/Gilliam) character and falling flat. To me, Kudrow has always "forces" comedic roles (post Friends) - and it can become obvious at times.

I can't help but think swapping the roles of Jemaine Clement (the bad guy) and Kudrow would have been better for the series. Jemaine Clement is a fantastic comedic actor - and his talents appear to be wasted in the role he has in this.

I miss the fact that Kevin was the same size as the rest of the bandits in the film. That made them all seem much more like a "gang" of bandits -- I somewhat "get" why that wasn't a choice in today's social climate I guess, but it's not as favorable to have Kevin be a small child compared to all the 6ft tall adults.

The "bandits" in this series aren't very quirky overall - or haven't shown it much yet - that's what made the bandits in the original Palin/Gilliam film so endearing.

Anyway.. after 2 episodes it's not horrible, but it's not yet "great" either. It's worth catching, but there's no telling if it'll get better or worse at this point. I think, largely, that depends on how central Kudrow is in each episode. Looking at the list of the cast, there does appear to be some great comedy names yet to appear in the series.

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After 6 episodes, it's just sort of lackluster and often "try hard." It's not bad, but I have yet to find any laughs. It CLEARLY tries.. but I'm just not finding it funny. And some aspects are just non-sensical.. they travel back to Georgian times and everyone is calling Kudrow's character "sir"?? I know today that may be a thing in 2024, but in the 1700s??? Historical settings are all very superficial and unrealistic in terms of character mindsets.

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.

First and second episode review: I didn't find the trailer too interesting, so I wasn't really excited to watch this show. But because of Lisa Kudrow, the adventure genre, and it being an Apple TV Plus comedy show, I decided to give it a try.

To be honest, at the beginning, it seemed kind of normal. I thought about skipping it after 20 minutes because it felt childish, average, and predictable. But as I continued watching, I really started to like it. I watched both episodes. The duration is fine, although I usually prefer comedy shows that are a bit shorter. This is the first adventure genre show I've watched, and I really enjoyed it. There were some nice jokes, and the show has a cool vibe. The cast is awesome, especially the young kid, who is a really good actor, and Lisa Kudrow, who is still amazing. I loved the visuals, the feel of the show, and the little bit of history lessons. I haven't watched the 1981 movie, but I don't think I need to since I'll be watching the remaining episodes. I would have liked the show even more if there was some romantic tension and if the episodes were less than 30 minutes. Also, it would have been better if all the episodes were released at once, but two episodes a week is also fine.

Overall, it's a nice, fun watch. This show might not be for everyone but it's definitely for me as I too would love to escape the reality. 3/5.

Update: I just finished watching all the episodes, and my ratings remain the same. If you don't think too logically, you might enjoy it. Kids will probably like it more. The ending is not predictable, which is good, although they ended it on a cliffhanger, likely aiming for a season 2 renewal. I'm not sure if a season 2 is necessary, but if it happens, I will watch it.