Review: THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE is a stunning return to Jim Henson’s fantasy world

Following the massive success of The Muppets, Jim Henson’s 1982 film The Dark Crystal was a head-scratcher for many. A dark story about two races of creatures locked in a symbiotic battle for their world (and their souls), the film tackled issues of religion, slavery, and the destruction of the planet, all told exclusively via puppets. It was a flop upon its initial release, with many claiming it was much too scary for children, but the film eventually developed a loyal following over the intervening years, along with an entire extended universe detailed in a number of comic runs. Henson’s world of Thra, populated by the evil Skeksis and the peaceful Gelflings, now returns in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, an incredible new 10-part prequel from Netflix.

The very idea of bringing back The Dark Crystal as an extended series is extremely ambitious. Henson’s original film was a painstaking and labour intensive piece of work, employing a small army of puppeteers and designers to bring the world of Thra to life. Special effects technology has obviously grown by leaps and bounds since 1982, but puppetry is still a very physical act that requires a great deal of painstaking work. Age of Resistance updates the process by combining aspects of puppetry with CGI, creating a nearly seamless blend of physical work and special effects. While that may put off some puppetry purists, it lends a tangible quality to the series that strictly CGI fests have never been able to pull off.

Age of Resistance is a prequel to the 1982 film, which serves as a smart way of building out the world. The original film ends on a fairly definitive note, but still left a great deal of the history of Thra and its various inhabitants mostly untold, which this series helps to fill in. We are reunited with the Skeksis, the evil overlords of Thra and guardians of the giant Crystal, the major source of power in Thra, which they abuse for their own needs. The Skeksis’ Scientist (Mark Hamill) discovers that they can corrupt the power of the Crystal to steal the very essence of living beings for them to greedily consume, a vile act that is witnessed by a young Gelfling named Rian (Taron Egerton). Rian then embarks on a mission to warn the rest of the Gelfling about the murderous actions of the Skeksis, which sparks a journey across Thra to try to save the world from their controlling grasp.

Much like Henson’s original, there is a lot to unpack in this new version of The Dark Crystal. The analogies to slavery and the exploitation of the working class are front and center here, along with a strong environmental protection plea. Yet despite the heavy subtext, Age of Resistance is first and foremost a classic adventure story. Directed by Louis Leterrier, the world building on this show is incredible, with a stunning number of creature designs and new areas of Thra to explore. In many ways, Age of Resistance is Netflix’s answer to Game of Thrones. Sometimes the series hews a bit too close to that show, either in story beats or the way it flitters between numerous parts of the world, but it may just be that Game of Thrones is still so fresh in our minds that a new fantasy show of this magnitude can’t help but bring about comparisons to George R.R. Martin’s universe.

What sets Age of Resistance apart is of course the puppet component, which lends the series a distinctive style. There are the familiar races we encountered in the original series, along with a number of new striking new creations, designed in part by the great artist Brian Fourd, who worked closely on the designs of Henson’s original film.

In terms of the voice work, it was easy to be a bit apprehensive when Netflix announced a huge, star-studded voice cast for Age of Resistance – would the likes of Awkwafina, Taron Egerton, Andy Samberg, and especially Mark Hamill (one of the most recognizable voices in all of pop culture) detract from the puppetry and the overall story? Thankfully, the voice actors are integrated perfectly into the series; the characters of Thra are so distinct that the famous voice cast blends right into the proceedings, which may be due to the fact that the voice work was done after the entire series had already been filmed (the opposite way animated films are usually put together). It may have been a practical decision on the part of the filmmakers, and while the end result is that the voices don’t always match up to the character’s lips, it does place the emphasis firmly on the visuals, rather than on the celebrity voice-overs. It’s unfortunate that Frank Oz is not involved with this new series (he memorably voiced a pair of characters in the original film along with Henson), but the new cast does a great job of servicing the material without ever becoming a distraction.

Alongside the new effects, the camera work here is like nothing seen in the 1982 film. The camera can pull out to display the wondrous vistas of Thra, and circle back and then push in for a closer look at the creatures that inhabit the series. It’s a stunning new way to explore the world of Thra, and a number of sequences throughout the show are so gorgeously rendered that it’s tempting to hit pause just to soak them in.  It’s truly like nothing that’s even been seen before.

With quality world-building and jaw-dropping visuals, Age of Resistance is a total triumph. The filmmakers faced an incredible challenge in trying to revive Henson’s dark and intricate world nearly 40 years after the original film, but you can clearly sense that this new series was made with total reverence and admiration for the original, without being afraid of branching out into new directions.

Like the original, the puppet aspect fool you; there are still a number of disturbing moments in Age of Resistance that might frighten small children. There are sequences of torture and even murder throughout the show that should haunt the dreams of a new generation much like the Skeksis did for children of the 80s. Yet in spite of that darkness, Age of Resistance offers an optimistic look at how the next generation might be able to right the wrongs of the past, a notion that offers a glimmer of hope as we navigate though our own dark times.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is streaming on Netflix now.