When I say "pushing the boundaries of puppetry-based filmmaking", I'm not just throwing praise around willy-nilly. As a life-long fan of the art of puppetry, I was constantly downright giddy just watching this shows masterful use of the myriad of puppets as its disposal which are used to, among other achievements, upend conventional wisdom on how to film puppetry or even just what kind of stories you can tell with puppets. Best of all, like the best puppetry, you totally get lost in these puppets and their world. Director Louis Letterier said in a behind-the-scenes video for this show that he hoped you'd get so immersed in this show that you'd forget you're watching puppets and mission accomplished on that front, the Gelflings, Skeksis and other Thra inhabitants really do come alive as otherworldly creations rather than the exquisitely realized puppets they are.
The whole Age of Resistance saga takes place on the planet Thra where all creatures, particularly the Gelflings and their seven individual clans, live under the power of the Skeksis, a group of creatures who put on the appearance of being kindly rulers but are not so secretly malicious monsters obsessed with harnessing the power of the Dark Crystal. The storyline for this ten-episode season centers on a trio of Gelflings, Rian (Taron Edgerton), Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel), coming to terms with the fact that their world is a far more complex and dangerous place than they could have ever imagined. These revelations lead them to rebel against societies norms and begin a fight against the forces that could destroy Thra.
The aforementioned ability of this show to make you forget you're watching creatures made up of latex is on full display in the first episode, especially in a well-done moment of puppetry depicting one Gelfling resident coming to terms with losing a precious family heirloom through just facial expressions. There's real human poignancy being generated from beings who are so far removed from being humans and this ability to make the Gelflings emotionally engaging beings is probably the biggest leg-up Age of Resistance has over the original Dark Crystal movie. Though a visual masterwork, it has to be said that the two Gelfing protagonists in that movie just weren't all that engaging as characters.
A combination of issues with the puppetry of the characters and separate problems with how they were written without much in the way of personality left the films two lead characters being mighty lacking. In Age of Resistance, though, our trio of lead Gelfling characters and their Gelfling neighbors have far more pronounced and entertaining personalities that make them a delight to hang around with. This is especially true of Deet, an upbeat Gelfling who is kind to all the creatures of Thra. It's a personality wonderfully reflected in Nathalie Emmanuel's endearing vocal performance and makes for a great contrast with the increasing levels of darkness of Thra. Also impressive on a character level is the complex relationship between Brea and her sisters, particularly the dynamic she shares with older sister Seladon.
The characters are brought to life through some exceptionally well-casted celebrity voice-overs. Normally celebrity voice-overs turn out to be a distraction and just an attempt by producers to shoehorn in, say, Drake and Nicki Minaj into the same Ice Age sequel. Luckily, Age of Resistance has decided to pursue a crop of genuinely gifted performers like Taron Edgerton and Anya Taylor-Joy into the various roles in Age of Resistance. The casting is especially noteworthy when it comes to the actors chosen for the Skeksis, the likes of Awkwafina, Mark Hamill, Jason Isaacs and Benedict Wong throw themselves completely into their respective repugnant roles while Simon Pegg, playing the iconic Chamberlain Skeksis, is totally unrecognizable in his voice work, this may be his most chameleonic acting to date.
Age of Resistance certainly works on a character level but it's even better on a visual one. Much hullabaloo has been made about this programs unique filming style that opted for multiple cameras filming a single scene and handheld camerawork, both major departures for typical filming techniques for puppet entertainment. When you actually watch the show, you can see why this filming style has generated such hype, director Louie Letterier lends Age of Resistance lively camerawork that truly makes Thra feel like an actual living breathing world. Filming this show like a live-action movie with flesh-and-blood humans couldn't have been easy to pull off with puppets but the execution of it is sublime and constantly left me wondering "How did they do that?!?"
The constant use of what appears to be natural light pouring in on these tactile puppets further instills a sense of astonishingly believable artificial reality into Age of Resistance. Having this world be populated by well-developed characters, as well as a heavy presence of small intimate moments that allow us to get to know them better, cements this shows depiction of Thra as something you can easily get lost in over its nearly ten-hour runtime. By building off the foundation of the original Dark Crystal movie to make something with its own distinct mythos, atmosphere and filming style, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance creates television that truly enchants. Watch and behold proof that puppetry is truly capable of all kinds of engaging storytelling!
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