![]() Frog) or their mouth's that of a toucan with a skin condition (assorted Skeksis). create wildly inhuman, or un-human, creatures, we'll blithely accept them, whether their eyes are ping-pong balls (C. The problem wasn't simply that they were thin, underwritten characters, though they were certainly that. Or to gaze admiringly at the procession of Mystics (the good wizards of this universe - part giant possum, part ALF) as you attempted to figure out precisely how the puppeteers were puppeting those puppets. Or to grimace during the feast scene in the Castle of the Crystal, which existed at the place where food porn met body horror. ![]() ![]() And that's to say nothing of the plain craft of the thing - you could watch it just to admire the way the corner of that one Skeksis' mouth-beak curled into a sneer. The sheer idiosyncratic imagination stuffed into every frame - and brought to vivid (often terrifying) life by the Henson Creature Shop's skilled teams of puppeteers and craftspeople - conjured a rich narrative universe into being, steeped in myth, magic and mummery. It was far, far too weird a thing for that. The Jim Henson/Frank Oz film, which like the series teemed with all manner of creatures, plant life, settings and costumes conceived of by Henson and production designer Brian Froud, was anything but basic. But as soon as you place them - as do both the original 1982 The Dark Crystal film and Netflix's new, 10-episode prequel series - at the center of a world as gorgeously wrought, breathtakingly detailed and astonishingly elaborate as that of The Dark Crystal, they become something even worse: They're basic. On their own, they'd be generic enough - a first-pass attempt at your garden-variety Tolkien-adjacent high-fantasy race. Dark Crystal's wan, elf-like protagonists - is "Gelfling." Similarly, the plural of Skeksis - this fantasy world's eeeeEEEeevil villains, which look like what would happen if Gonzo schtupped a turkey vulture - is "Skeksis." Clip and save for your records.) I am reliably informed that the plural of Gelfling - the o.g. Look, if I wanted to watch dead-eyed, expressionless creatures sniping at one another over backstories I can't follow without consulting the Internet, I'd watch Real Housewives. Let's get the cheap joke out of the way up top: This movie is really clean cut, and normally I feel like I have more stringent standards than others so this is unusual for me putting a lower age than others-maybe a lot of kids were spooked by the creepy looking puppets? I know I was when I was little.The three sister-princesses of the Vapra clan await the apology they feel they are owed in the Netflix prequel series Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. It's a positive movie as everyone is trying to work on a short time schedule to accomplish things before the suns align-which reflects our short mission in life to conquer evil. It is sad to see the exploitation of an innocent group of cute puppets, but it's not portrayed as a good thing. They don't deceive or abuse others like the bad characters, and for the most part good and bad is clear. The boy and girl are very kind to each other and work together-not as many jabs like you see in modern movies. There's a lot more environmentalism and hippie morals in the fan backstory but you don't get that in this movie. Ugly characters aren't all bad, there's one whose eye is popping out but ends up being very insightful though a bit rough around the edges. The movie has a mystical vibe, and there is a prophecy that is supposed to bring them together-so you might wonder a bit what the first group of aliens brings to the second, a little confusing sort of like what they call good and evil in the force in star wars. The story involves aliens who were separated into two personalities, one ugly and selfish-they look like vultures who went dumpster diving, the other old and hippie-like (they look like dinosaurs). I don't remember any swearing or drug use but that doesn't mean there isn't any. ![]() You do see a male puppet naked, but no parts or sexuality involved, and he is later clothed. The worst there is a stabbing with a crystal, there's also a hand that bleeds, a little peril, an ugly crumbling of a dying creature, and a fall down a hole-so maybe pushing an 8 for some kids. If your child can watch movies like Star Wars or Harry Potter, they can definitely see this.
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