‘Time Bandits’ is a Spirited, Hilarious Fantasy
Lisa Kudrow leads a circle of funny friends in an action-packed series reinvention of the '80s classic "Time Bandits."
Reimagining, not just remaking, the beloved 1981 film directed by Terry Gilliam, Apple TV+’s new Time 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. Amidst the epic adventure and action, and fictionalized takes on famous historical figures and events, the show is hilarious.
Gilliam’s baroque style and filmmaking prowess can’t be duplicated, but Waititi, who directed two of the ten eps, including the series opener, is certainly no slouch in that department.
And, as for blending escapist fantasy with sharply aimed absurdity, Clement has proven more than capable of that with seasons of the hit comedy What We Do in the Shadows, based on the film he co-wrote and co-directed with Waititi.
They’ve assembled here a fabulous-looking production, fronted by Lisa Kudrow as Penelope, ostensible leader of the Time Bandits, former minions of the Supreme Being who have stolen his map, and are racing through time and space seeking riches.
The Bandits are, of course, a mess as marauders but they’re a ball to spend time with. Kudrow, especially, endears as an insecure leader nevertheless determined to hold her team together.
And she syncs her singular comedic rhythms well with the ensemble, including Tadhg Murphy as wannabe actor Alto, Rune Temte as sensitive strongman Bittelig, Charlyne Li as bumbling thief Judy, and Roger Jean Nsengiyumva as master of the map Widgit, who is not the best at reading maps.
Although, as Penelope points out, this is not so much a map as it is “a celestial chart of the anomalies and portals of the intimately interwoven intricacies” of time and space, and all the dimensions, “one, two, three, and four.”
That’s a long-winded, well-delivered way of saying they usually have maybe a 50/50 chance of landing at their intended destination. Mostly, they seem to be winging it, happening upon Stonehenge as a work-in-progress, or arriving outside the Trojan Horse as it’s being rolled up to the gates of Troy.
It’s the Bandits’ good fortune that they first crash into the bedroom of bookish English kid Kevin, played by marvelous young actor Kal-El Tuck. Totally up for the adventure, Kevin tags along with the Bandits, whether Penelope wants him to or not.
But he proves his worth. Knowledgeable about history and literature, he generally can assess exactly where and when they are, and who they’re dealing with. Armed with that knowledge, he can help strategize how best to navigate situations given known facts and legends.
Yet, regardless of his astute assessments, young Kevin has no idea of the dangers the Bandits face from their old boss, the Supreme Being, who, in a nod to the film, chases them through time in the form of a giant head demanding, “Return the map!”
They’re also pursued by evil — not Evil, as indelibly portrayed by David Warner in the movie, but in this case, Wrongness, who rules over his Fortress of Darkness and is played with deeply funny seriousness by Clement.
Wrongness believes the Bandits must be “master geniuses” to have pilfered the Supreme Being’s map, and throws all varieties of evil in their path, including the demon Fianna (Rachel House). She chases the crew from Kevin’s bedroom in Bingley, England, to the ends of the Earth, and across millennia.
As the Bandits steal their way through time, what becomes clear, again and again, is the value of knowing history in order to plot a path forward. While Kevin’s snarky sister Saffron (Kiera Thompson, also fantastic), and dimwitted Mum and Dad (Felicity Ward and James Dryden, consistently amusing) tease him over his “boring” hobbies, the show reiterates that nothing good comes of discarding history, facts, and knowledge.
The irony is that it takes an eleven-year-old to constantly point this out, since grown-ups, as we know, are so unfortunately apt to forget.
Time Bandits (★★★★☆) episodes one and two are available for streaming now, and new episodes are available every Wednesday on Apple TV+. Visit www.apple.com/apple-tv-plus.
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