The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance 2019

I didn't like the original movie, at least not from a story standpoint... Never saw it as a kid as it was a bit scary so I hold no affinity to the franchise despite enjoying Fraggle Rock and The Muppets. I gave this show a change cause of all the praise I've read and heared.

But unfortunately... I still didn't like it.

It looks amazing, the characters and worldbuilding are great and it simply looks marvelous. But the story and dialogue in it is just not for me. Like most fantasy-stories we get some wibblywobbly words that change normal words, a whole lot of moaning and awing and sighing cause the actors seem to want to fill the silence in their booth, the usage of elements Iveseen in other franchises (the sword of omens, the borg,...), a lot of story exposition and way too much explaining... even some of the action scenes didnt' excite me.

I don't see myself recommending this to my children as it's way too long to watch and I wonder if my opinion of the movie and this series would have been different if I actually saw it as a kid. I applaud the craftmanship in it, the worldbuilding and every technical aspect. The rest just... wasn't my cup of tea.

I would watch a movie about the adventures of Hop though... (As long as it doesnt' have all the elements I didnt' like from the series and movie.)

Perhaps the best instance of carrying on Jim Henson's legacy I've seen. Though it's easy to see that it was Henson's passion project, The Dark Crystal was a beautiful yet over-ambitious film that somewhat lacked in story and character. Age of Resistance takes his notes on the deep lore that never made it into the film, and adapts it into an engaging series that makes for the perfect companion piece.

The design of the world and attention to detail feel incredibly faithful, like it would all fit right into the original. The modern puppetry is highly advanced and expressive, with CG used as a suitable supplement rather than a crutch. It didn't take long for the Gelfling to close the uncanny valley for me, which is a great improvement. The characters are largely well fleshed out and likeable, with excellent performances by a surprisingly star-studded cast (disguised by their voice acting talents). The Skeksis in particular are made all the more fascinating, and the depth of their pettiness and cruelty gives you plenty of reason to hate them. The tone is even darker than the original film, not shying away from death, torture and even mild alien gore. And the story is engaging and creative, retroactively enhancing and improving the original film. While the plot could stand to be continued (and hopefully concluded) with a second season, the showrunners wisely gave us a satisfying climax that loosely sets up the film nicely.

There were a couple of decisions I was less fond of, small as they may be. Some scenes and scenarios with the Skesis started to feel a bit repetitive after a while, though I really liked them too much to consider it annoying. I also felt Seladon's character was pushed too far to make such a quick redemption arc convincing. So much time is focused on making her unlikeable that it's pretty hard to see why she should be forgiven so swiftly. My biggest actual grievance would have to be the decision to manifacture a vague romance between Deet and Rian. Hup has a far better relationship with her that was built up over the season, but eventually they write him out of the way to just be kinda jealous. After Rian is proven innocent he doesn't have much to do, but I didn't feel like he had enough chemistry with Deet to warrant a love interest. It just feels odd to have a same-race relationship forced with alien fantasy characters.

All in all though, Netflix really shot itself in the foot by cancelling one of its most critically acclaimed and fantastic productions. As much as I want a follow up, I have to admit it doesn't feel like a likely thing to get picked up by another studio any time soon. As it stands you need to fill in a lot of the gaps between this prequel series and the film yourself, but they still work wonderfully together. I'm incredibly impressed and moved by the passion and dedication to continuing the craft of the world's greatest puppeteer.

Probably the biggest surprise of 2019. No, not probably - definitely ! I had no idea this was in the making but even if I had, I could not have expected this. Of course I do know the movie. But it has been so long ago that I don't remember anything but the fact it was a Jim Henson puppet fantasy movie. I didn't remember anything of the story. I chose not to re-watch it and instead delve right into the show which is absolutely fine to do. As I understand it the movie would be the end of the story anyway.

The production itself is amazing. And that even scratches the surface. The sets, costumes, the pupptets - the level of detail is crazy awesome. Watch this on as big a screen as possible. I am so thankful they didn't go all out CGI on this one as it wouldn't have worked like this does. The way this is shot makes you forget that you are watching puppets. This doesn't differ from any live action movie. The storytelling is immersive, it pulls you in and you are always eager to find out what will happen next. Characters are build up so that you can connect with them. You can invest in them, dislike or even hate them. There is a certain amount of darkness involved but also fun. All this is accompanied by a great musical score. This is LOTR territory as far as I'm concerned.

It is always difficult to label something as "must-see" because there are people who are simply not into this kind of stuff and that is absolutely fine. But I would really recommend to give it a try. As I mentioned this came out of nowhere for me and it went straight to the top for being the best show of 2019.