Apple TV+‘sTime Banditswill make you nostalgic for a time that has long past , and not one of pirate , sultans , or walk woolly mammoths . The newfangled series is , like so many other high-pitched - visibility genre TV titles of the retiring few years , a remaking . establish on the Terry Gilliam - direct 1981 film of the same name , it ’s a quirky time locomotion dangerous undertaking serial about a mathematical group of would - be thieves who embark on a on the face of it never - terminate journeying in which they bumble from one diachronic period to another . It ’s a wacky sci - fi farce that ’s just as concerned in lampooning its many time change of location image as it is in embracing the exhilarating thrills provide by them .
Despite being a straight episodic take on its parent picture , Time Banditsfeels more imaginative and refreshing than most of the big - budget sci - fi picture and television set shows that are made these twenty-four hours . It ’s a genuine , proper adventure serial publication — one that has enough heart and vivacious visuals to remind you of the variety of the family - friendly sci - fi blockbusters that were once commonplace in the eighties . The serial may never fully engross you in any of its revivify era , but its gleeful originative spirit give it so inviting and pleasant to watch that you quickly find yourself wanting to get lost right alongside its fiber in its roundabout way - fill story .
Like the celluloid that exhort it , Time Banditsfollows a young male child named Kevin ( newcomer Kal - El Tuck ) . obsess with history , Kevin is n’t very popular with his schoolfellow or his family . His parents ( James Dryden and Felicity Ward ) urgently require him to change state his head aside from the pages of his history Word of God and toward the electronic screen of the smartphone they bought him , while his sister , Saffron ( Kiera Thompson ) , wastes few opportunities to make fun of him and his interests . Time Bandits , which comes from creators Iain Morris andWhat We Do in the Shadowsco - directors Jemaine Clement andTaika Waititi , establishes Kevin ’s outsider existence expeditiously and humorously in the show ’s opening move minute before throwing a seismal wrench into his and his family ’s smooth English life .
Said twist come in the figure of a portal that seem in Kevin ’s press one night and ship him back in time to the day of the Norse Viking . Even after he ’s found his way back to his sleeping accommodation , Kevin is traumatise when his bedroom ’s portal is later used by the show ’s eponymous radical of oddball meter traveler to escape their all - powerful boss , a Godlike figure get laid as the Supreme Being ( played by Waititi himself ) . The Time Bandits , go by a standoffish Penelope ( a dynamite Lisa Kudrow ) , inadvertently get Kevin looped into their wild escapade , which involve them traveling through different worldly portals to various times throughout history using a mapping of the universe they stole from the Supreme Being .
For Kevin , the chance to go to places and times like Ancient Greece and Medieval England is a dream make out true . For Penelope and the remainder of the Bandits , it ’s just an opportunity to make their mark on history by slip as much as they can from everywhere they visit . Time Banditspredictably mine plenty of clowning from the clash between Kevin ’s wide-eyed - eyed , wholesome joy and his companions ’ more freelance impulses . It also find out endless mood in its nominal thieves ’ repeated failures to in reality slip anything of Charles Frederick Worth . Of all of its many impertinent originative decision , making Penelope and her cohorts stunningly defective at subsist up to their claim proves to be one ofTime Bandits ‘ best . It ’s a subversive twirl that Clement , Waititi , Morris , and their fellow writer have a luck of fun with , and it ’s one that ’s reinforce by the vanity - free performances give by the show ’s doer .
Kudrow inevitably strike in a role that seems , at first , a tad underwritten and one - annotation . Opposite her , Roger Jean Nsengiyumva strikes an endearingly clueless human body as Widgit , the Bandits ’ denominate guide , and Rune Temte similarly impress and delights as softhearted , the grouping ’s softhearted strongman . Tuck also turns out to be an instantly likable filmdom presence asTime Bandits ‘ youthful lead , while Clement keys absolutely into the show ’s goofy , playful comedic tone with his gloriously sozzled performance as Pure Evil , a cosmic riposte to Waititi ’s Supreme Being who wants to get and use his contender ’s mathematical function to twist the humanity into a wholly miserable place . Some ofTime brigand ‘ best trick are delivered by Clement , whose scenes are mostly dissociate from the primary action of the show , but are still rarely unwelcome .
As much as it may forge itself as an ensemble funniness , though , not all ofTime Bandits ‘ characters and performances move as impregnable of a chord as others . A recurring laugh involving Alto ( Tadhg Murphy ) , one of Penelope ’s fella bandits , and his dreaming of becoming a professional thespian never quite lands , and it proves to be a specially distracting and unrewarding subplot in one otherwise standout midseason episode necessitate historical anatomy like the fourth Earl of Sandwich and Casanova . While Waititi ’s common smugness work forTime Bandits ‘ egotistical take on the Supreme Being , his increasingly apparent limitations as a performer still make his shot in the latter half of the show ’s 10 - sequence first time of year a chore to get through sometimes .
Time Bandits , to boot , never matches the surreality of its parent flick ’s visuals , nor does it ever go to as strikingly dark and cynical a place as that picture show ’s unforgettable left over - number ending . However , unlike so many shows with likewise high budget , Time Banditsstill come forth as a frequently visually stunning adventure serial . It strive to wreak every one of its installment and clock time catamenia to life with as much colouring as possible , whether it be 1920s Harlem or 14th - 100 Egypt , and that only build watching the show an even more enjoyable experience . It ’s outstandingly well-situated , in fact , to get just as caught up inTime Bandits ‘ many adventures as its teenage protagonist inevitably does .
That ’s a will to not only the share both in front of and behind the camera by its various squad members , but also of the persuasiveness of its lightsome , emphatically maximalist approaching to its seed material . Its heroes may settle dead many , many times , butTime Banditsisn’t a show that ever give up halfway . It lay full force behind every one of its originative swings , no matter how ludicrous they may be , and many of them connect . Did we ever reallyneedaTime Banditsshow ? No , and the series ’ first time of year does n’t seek to indicate that , either . What has emerged nonetheless is an expensive sci - fi TV serial that earns its high price rag by being nothing more than at long last , well , a good fourth dimension .
The first two episodes ofTime Banditsare streaming now on Apple TV+ . New installments premiere weekly on Wednesdays . Digital Trends was yield former access to the series ’ entire 10 - episode first season .
