‘Time Bandits’ is a Spirited, Hilarious Fantasy
metroweekly.comTime Bandits series charts its own clever course through history.The original movie, written by Gilliam and Monty Python mate Michael Palin, and featuring Palin and John Cleese in supporting roles, served up an eccentric, ruefully sardonic take on myth and modern times.The titular bandits, having stolen God’s map of the universe, had decided to use the all-powerful tool to hopscotch through time, ransacking wealth from the likes of Napoleon, Robin Hood, and King Agamemnon.Along the way, the Bandits, portrayed by six talented men of short stature, crashed through a time portal into the present-day bedroom of 11-year-old history buff Kevin, who was whisked off on the adventure of his life.Not only a spirited, escapist fantasy aimed at kids, Gilliam’s movie was a visual marvel that took fearless turns into dark corners of greed, consumerism, loss, and abandonment.
The film’s notoriously bleak ending boldly subverted the common fairy tale that as long as the kid hero makes it home safe from Oz, then all will be rainbows and sunshine.The ten-episode series dabbles in such darkness, but series creators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi don’t let the show live there.This Time Bandits — following the same premise of hurtling through history searching for loot and treasure — leans much harder on the humor, and that’s where it shines.
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