LONDON: It’s hard to think of many people better suited to breathe new life into Terry Gilliam’s 1981 surrealist comedy film “Time Bandits” than Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi (creators and stars of “What We Do in the Shadows”), and Iain Morris (co-creator of “The Inbetweeners”). After all, helmers like that clearly know how to tread the fine line between silly fun and silly stupid, and the backing of Apple TV+ means none of the low-tech effects and plywood sets typical of the original movie. Although some might argue that its Eighties aesthetic gives Gilliam’s film much of its now-beloved charm.
So all the signs for this big-budget remake series — which follows a cohort of time-travelling thieves and a starry-eyed nerdy kid who ends up being their newest recruit — are good. Kevin (newcomer Kal-El Tuck) is a history-obsessed 11-year-old with no friends, and a family that doesn’t get him. So when the Time Bandits, led by Penelope (Lisa Kudrow), stumble into his bedroom as they traverse time and space, Kevin wastes no time in tagging along. As he learns, the troupe have stolen a map of the universe from the supreme being (Waititi), and attracted the attention of the sinister Pure Evil (Clement). They now find themselves pursued by an array of wondrous and terrifying characters as they hopscotch through the history books Kevin loves so much.
With 10 episodes (two of which were available at the time of writing) to play with, instead of a 90-minute movie, Clement, Waititi and Morris have much more freedom to indulge their silly imaginations — and they manage a good approximation of that post-Monty Python, Gilliam-esque humor — as they lampoon historical figures from across the ages.
In Tuck they have a pleasant-enough child star, but the master stroke here is Kudrow as the ceaselessly sardonic leader of the Bandits. For while the script is decent, it’s Penelope’s wearied frustrations with her fellow thieves — and her hilariously unfounded distrust of a very polite 11-year-old boy — that give this show its hook.
The new “Time Bandits” might have streaming-money polish, but it’s still got that unerringly charming, wonderfully silly, Gilliam heart.
