He’s crafted a world that’s wholly immersive, both from the perspective of the viewer and internally such that when there are moments of physical violence, there’s a substance and weight to it.Īdditional credit here to cinematographer Erik Alexander Wilson, production designer Gavin Bocquet, composer Daniel Pemberton and, of course, creature/costume designer Brian Froud, without whom none of this would exist.Īge of Resistance is full of excitement and when it tries to be suspenseful or scary, it goes deeper than the nightmare fuel that Henson and Froud brought through the mere realization of vision in the movie. One need only to look at how stagey the movie sometimes is, how generally devoid of action, to be astounded at the mobility of Leterrier’s camerawork, to be amazed at how he’s able to navigate around any limitations in the puppets and the presence of their puppeteers. I’m not going to tell you that The Emperor is totally Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell just might be The Chamberlain, but if you want to interpret things that way, go for it.ĭirecting all 10 episodes, bringing consistent energy to the entire series and effectively redefining his entire career is Louis Leterrier ( Clash of the Titans), whose achievement here is fairly remarkable. The message is sufficiently well-meaning and simplistic that you may find yourself looking to add layers and depth that probably aren’t there, like trying to match contemporary politicians with the malevolent skeksis - boasting most overcomplicated names in their native tongue and instantly descriptive titles like The Emperor (Jason Isaacs), The Chamberlain (Simon Pegg), The General (Benedict Wong), The Scientist (Mark Hamill) and other creepy critters voiced by Awkwafina, Harvey Fierstein and Ralph Ineson. It’s all wrapped around an easily digestible environmentalist message about the interconnectivity between a planet and its inhabitants and the cataclysm and imbalance that arises from treating your planet only in terms of resources to be consumed and not as a symbiotic stewardship. Though I’m not sure I ever got any holistic sense of Thra’s size and geography, you get a real feel for locations like the Crystal Desert, the bustling gelfling metropolises of Stone-in-the-Wood and Ha’Rar and various catacombs and caves. Like the movie, the series is a pastiche of familiar fantasy Hero’s Quest tropes, offering shades of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Wizard of Oz and more, sending our main characters from destination to destination with much more purpose and conviction than marked the mini gelfling migration in the movie. On simultaneous and parallel quests with similar goals are Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel), part of the underground-dwelling Grottan Clan and soon joined by optimistic podling Hup (Victor Yerrid), and Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy), daughter to the All-Maudra (Helena Bonham Carter) and sister to the compassionate Tavra (Caitriona Balfe) and the insecure Seladon (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). "Dynamic events" during campaigns can happen on surprise and put your team at a disadvantage.The gelfling live in seven matriarchal clans, each paying obeisance to the skeksis, right up until one gelfling, the Taron Egerton-voiced Rian, learns the truth and sets out on a quest. While you use the skill of these characters to your advantage make sure you also keep an eye on the environment. This all takes place on the planet Thra with never-before-seen characters from either the show or movie. Once you've completed the game, you can either go back and replay levels to get perfect scores or replay the entire game with a different strategy. Once you've made sure everything is perfect it's time to enact your war plans skillfully to take out your enemies. There are 80 turn-based campaigns for you to explore by recruiting allies for the resistance, growing your armies, and upgrading all aspects of your base, gear, and soldiers.Įach challenge will require the player to customize their gear, abilities, and jobs. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is advertised as a tactical strategy game.
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