The Dark Crystal: Age of the Resistance Review


As a fan of the 1982  Jim Henson movie, The Dark Crystal, I was both excited and apprehensive about the Netflix prequel series, The Dark Crystal : Age of Resistance. My apprehension came from knowing what befalls the Gelfing race since that sad fact is outlined in the movie. I also was unsure of how the movie would translate to a modern series.
The Dark Crystal (1982)
Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie, but the world building is a bit lacking. Perhaps this is an intentional device to show the devastation the Skeksis have wrecked upon Thrall, but it does leave the story feeling a bit empty. The characters, likewise seem a bit flat, the brave but clueless hero, the brave, smart hero, and the evil villains.  
I need not have worried one bit; the series took all the missing pieces of the movie and gave them life. The first season was breathtakingly amazing, the puppetry, the scenery, the music, the characters, and the story. All of those wove together an incredibly rich and vibrant world, something the movie lacked.
Victor Yerrid, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Beccy Henderson in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
While the series fills in the gaps of the movie, it still has that unabashedly magical feel of many 80’s fantasy films. The series does have the basic fantasy plot of young people finding themselves while saving their world from evil, but as with any good story,  the way the plot is carried out makes a great deal of difference.  Whether you grew up with the movie or not, the series is a great watch for any fantasy fan. 


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