The Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy reviews that you've all come to hate love are branching out!
That's right! The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is getting the review treatment!
I watched all ten episodes over the course of three evenings. And the documentary the evening after .
In preperation for the series I also watched The Dark Ccrystal film after a good three years or so since I'd last seen it. Twice. Once before I watched the series and once after.
Not intentionally I just watched it with my partner the second time afterwards.
So... Let's get on with the review yes? Mmmmmmmmm?
Background Info
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is a prequel series to the cult classic film The Dark Crystal made in 1982 by Jim Henson.
Yup that's right this prequel series is being made a whopping 37 years later. Those puppets were pretty darn good back then... and they're even better now thanks to that big Netflix budget!
The Dark Crystal (film that is) takes place on the world of Thra where the land is dying and the embodiment of the world's lifeforce, The Dark Crystal, is withering away as well.
There's three suns in the sky of Thra and the main protagonist, Jen, needs to reach the Dark Crystal and heal/repair it with a shard that had broke away from the crystal before the three suns allign in conjunction and Thra will be lost forever.
I would say more... But it's probably better for you to watch it the film. Spoilers and all that.
Of course should you wish to watch the series first then thankfully you get given a nice bit of world building right from the start that'll get you up to speed and then some.
Plus with The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance being a prequel series set about 100 years before the events of the film... You get a whole different perspective of the setting.
The show meanwhile revolves around three main protagonists
Deet, A Gelfling from the underground dwelling Grottan clan.
Rian, A Gelfling Crystal castle guard from the Stonewood Clan
and Brea, The youngest Gelfling Princess of the Vapra Clan.
Needless to say things don't entirely appear as they seem with these three protagonists from all over Thra getting muddled up in a little something called destiny, crossing paths with one another and with alliances formed, friends lost and the truth revealed.
What's a Gelfling you say? Well...
There's three main races to the land of Thra.
The Mystics
A rather recluse race, that to me seem to have a very native american kinda vibe mixed with your classic nature respecting Elf, that are peaceful.
The Skeksis
Rulers of The (Dark) Crystal. There are only twelve or so of the Skeksis whom maintain order in Thra.
and the Gelflings
Whom are a matriachal society, split into seven different clans and protect the Masters of The Crystal. Female Gelflings having a little special something that males don't. Wings.
There's also the Podlings whom are fairly prominent
They're a pretty simple race whom seem to enjoy the more average aspects of daily life in Thra.
and Mother Augra
A living embodiment of the world of Thra. Whom may have spent eons star gazing and turning her eye from the world.
Naturally I'm leaving some aspects out for you to discover for yourselves as you watch the show and or film.
The Review
So with the main gist down without too many spoilers... How does the actual series fare?
In a word? Spectacular.
In about ten or so paragraphs worth?
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance keeps the spirit of Jim Henson's original film very much alive. The fact the series has done so after 38 years is a triumph to say the least. That it adds a bunch of world building and lore that feels right at home? A treat and then some.
Dare I say it's even an improvement over the film?
The film is a bit of a slow burn at times. Not helping things is both the voice acting for the Gelflings and the general look of them is a bit off. Jen's in particular being rather dated and lacklustre.
The series meanwhile can still take a bit of time to set things up, but it's much grander in scope, has some thrilling voice acting, great production values and just wonderful.
Benedict Wong (Wong in Doctor Strange/Avengers) for example is completely unrecognisable as The General of the Skeksis, Simon Pegg making the Chamberlain of the Skeksis all the more of the scene stealer he already was in the film. Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei from Game Of Thrones) giving Deet a wonderful wamth and naivety to the role. Plus Donna Kimball sounds almost exactly alike Billie Whitelaw whom voiced Aughra in the film all those years ago,
If I had to single out one preformance that was a little ho-hum? It's probably Lena Heady. The casting gag is somewhat cute. But it feels a little Cercei in the last season of GoT when she was particularly stotic. A bit flat really. Still decent though.
The puppetry meanwhile is phenominal. One particular scene (if you've seen it you'll know) that's a touch self depricating is an absolute highlight and star of the series.
CGI only being used for shots that are utterly impossible to do with the puppets, some establishing shots and some effects.
Yeah you might see a foot that doesn't touch the floor every now and again or the use of a sword might seem a little like a four year old kid with a stick. But it's puppetry. It's not perfect. I'd rather take this practical, heartful if a bit flawed approach then some soulless pixel perfect CGI fest.
One minor quibble would be that the soundtrack, while quite good, doesn't have that sense of awe that the film's score (or rather just the main, dare I say, iconic theme) had.
The writing is great and you can tell that all the people imvolved in this series have a tonne of respect for the property. Especially the documentary that reveals Simon Pegg and a number of the other actors to be big fans, the writers originally coming to the Henson family with a Labryinth sequel script only to be given the keys to this series instead. Not to mention all the care and attention put into all facets of the production
The final words
Netflix has had a bunch of misfires with it's (truly) original content. Mainly regarding flims but there's some series that are fairly lacklustre or mediocre as well. This series though is without a doubt a jewel in it's original programming and shouldn't be missed!
I think it's the best thing I've watched all year across all formats.
Honestly I wrote it during my lunch break @RogerRoger... I'd meant to do it like three weeks ago but got sidetracked and finally got to doing it today 😂
Thought it was a little rushed, maybe a touch too vague as well to not spoil anything, but glad you enjoyed reading it
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@LN78 Not me. Certainly if it is centered on Aaron Paul.
BB was a good show for the most part - but I'm glad it was a condensed binge-watch for me rather than having to watch it weekly. There was plenty of filler and the usual issue of a successful show that meanders around in order to exist for a bit longer.
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
So, despite not liking Ruby Rose at all, and being particularly unimpressed with Batwoman in the Elseworlds crossover, and the trailers, I decided to give Batwoman a fair shake anyway.
There are worse TV pilots out there. Perhaps if the the current CW shows hadn't already bedded themselves in and maybe if another person had the lead, Batwoman might have the wings to soar - but it doesn't.
Rose remains alarmingly miscast. She just cannot actto save her life and looks all of 80lbs ringing wet, there's not a token of convincing physical performance. The rest of the production feels like a ham-fisted sixth former's idea of what 'representation' means.
Since the entertainment media is already pointing at 'trolls' for the poor reception - you should all absolutely watch it just to see for yourselves what an unwieldy mess it is.
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
@KALofKRYPTON@RogerRoger i'm sure it's perfectly serviceable but i gave up on the Arrowverse ages ago back when they just started recycling the same plot season after season although Crisis on Infinite Earths is looking good
"I pity you. You just don't get it at all...there's not a thing I don't cherish!"
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
@RogerRoger If your friend likes Rose, then she might get something out of it, but it is terrible. I abandoned Arrow early on as it was and remained a horribly sombre take on Green Arrow. It never escapes the feeling that the producers wanted to make a Batman show.
Batwoman was a great opportunity that seems to have been missed.
For me, Stranger Things is one of those shows that I thought I wouldn't like, but really do. It's chock full of tropes and is incredibly derivative in many ways, but it manages to do all of that and revel in the 80s setting without annoying me a jot. Few characters are needlessly stupid, plot contrivances are usually well handled and it manages to just feel very... 'right' I suppose. I was young in the 80s and it evokes a lot of that nostalgia; it looks like the time when all I knew of America was from films and TV shows and it all seemed very cool and amazing and sunny and big!
The third season is by far the weakest, so I'd be interested to see what you make of that.
I started Swamp Thing today as it showed up on Amazon Prime. Very good. Damned shame that it was canned!
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
@RogerRoger Doom Patrol is worth it. Could do with a better budget, but it's a good show based on good characters.
Not sure how Swamp Thing will play out, but it is very good for the first few episodes I've seen. Feels almost like early True Blood in tone.
I think it'll be worth finishing the season.
Titans ranges from OK to dire in the first season. Largely because of the never anything but forced feeling of ultra-mega-edgleordness of it all 😂
Starfire (I forget the actresses name) is a surprising highlight considering the costuming.
I'm 5 episodes in to season 2 and it appears to have chilled out slightly to a degree. Still plenty edgy, but the writers seem to have caught up with the tone and the swearing seems a little more natural.
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
I quite like the Shadow the Hedgehog theme song @RogerRoger... And the game itself is alright too
As for the actual topic at hand I started watching OZ the HBO prison drama from 22 years ago now.
From season 1 of course.
... It's... certainly different then what I typically watch.
J.K Simmons is great. His character an absolutely horrible white supremicist... But he certainly has the acting chops (If I ever doubted him lol)
Was quite surprised to see Harold Perrineau or Michael from LOST in this as Augustus Hill, took me a couple of episodes to recognise him.
Not to mention Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje or Mr Eko from LOST or The Mummy Returns where he's imhotep and the museum curator's underling and "looks" after the bratty Alex O'Connel kid. He's... certainly interesting lol
The acting as whole is pretty good from all the leads to be honest.
Not sure if I'll watch the whole six seasons, but season one is pretty decent so far barring all the raw, ugliness of a male prison.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Oz is great - if a bit harrowing in places. Saw a lot of it on it's run on Channel 4 (I think). I don't think I saw all of it - but a lot.
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
Well I have the Emerald city collection sitting here with all six seasons @KALofKRYPTON soooooo... We'll see how we go lol
...I... don't think I would reccomend it to ya @RogerRoger 😅 As Kal says it is quite harrowing and uncomfortable.
There's plenty of violence. Three people have died already and I'm four episodes in, frequent drug use, very frequent racist and derogatory slurs, implied "dropping of the soap" business, nudity and... yeah.
Agbaje does have a spiffy little hat that somehow stays atop his head though lol
Despite at times the very uncomfortable scenes I found it quite well done and enjoyed it in that oh god what's gonna happen now?! kinda context.
For HBO's first hour long drama programming I can see how this paved the way for the Sopranno's & Game of Thrones on HBO amongst countless others.
Definitely not perfect though.
First of all Ryan O'Reiley.
My god the writers seem to love this unlikeable smarmy git. He's so bloody smug about everything and backstabs absolutely anyone and everyone he does a deal with! And yet he completely gets away with it! How does anyone trust him?!
Second... they killed off a lot of good characters.
Jefferson Keane, Donald Groves, Nino Schibetta & Dino Ortolani died WAAAAAAAAY earlier then they should've.
Still there was plenty of good too.
I quite liked Augustus Hill. His narration segments just on the verge of over the top but they're usually a nice bit of levity to the otherwise dark show.
I think the character of Tobias Beecher had a pretty good arc too Really beware of the "nice" ones
J.K Simmons probably putting in the joint best preformance alongside Eamonn Walker.
I don't agree with a number of Kareem Said's (Walker's) philosophies but he's still quite compelling and has terrific presence in every scene he's in and Schillinger (Simmons) I loathe with a passion... but he's J.K and there's just something that draws me to him too.
Was surprised to see B.D. Wong (The scientist in Jurrasic park/world or Li Shang in Mulan) as Father Ray Mukada too! He's great and honestly the only character that seems to be genuinely good.
Might hold off a bit til I start season 2 though...
Haven't actually watched any superhero programming at all since Heroes
Well I watched Agent Carter but there's no superheroes in that... definitely super villains though. More of a spy, period drama & thriller really.
and well I guess the misfits have powers... but they sure ain't super lol
I've seen Arrow advertised a couple of times but theres' something about it that's completely turned me off of trying it whenever I see it.
Glad you've enjoyed it though @KrastosMD and shame it's ending for ya
Lol sometimes I think I am the only one that loves Arrow, its good there are more that like the show. This series, especially in the beggening, was how I imagined a live action comic series should be: great action, serialization etc.
@KratosMD I certainly was a fan of the Green Arrow before the show and I liked the direction the took with established characters like Huntress, the Ra's family, Roy Harper (even if he was underused in S7) and some original characters were cool. Other elements like the the one you mentioned or classic Arrow storylines were generally handled well. They don't know what to do with the Black Canary though. We already had 4 or something and all had their ups and downs. The worst part still is the death of a certain main character (that I liked) in S4 although prior to the death the reception to the character was mixed.
As far as the other DC CW shows... Legends is by far the worst. It is more of a surreal comedy than a superhero show. Flash is good but I don't like the chemistry between some of the main cast. Also sometimes things make no sense even considering the exaggerated comics point of view. Supergirl is also good but not great. Most episodes are hit or miss. I like how they adapted classical Superman stories but with Kara as the main character
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