The Nice Girls’ Guide to Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

The ’80s gave us some of the most imaginative fantasy films of all time. Sure kids today can take their picks of Star Wars and Harry Potter and superhero films to fuel their wonder, but we children of the ’80s had… well Star Wars, of course, but also ET, The Never Ending Story, and Willow,  just to name of few.

And of course, we had the non-Muppet films of Jim Henson. For a lot of people I know, it was Labyrinth they loved. For me, it was The Dark Crystal, a story literally from “another world, another time, in the Age of Wonder,” full of strange creatures on the strange world of Thra, and NO HUMANS.

In its time, it was a groundbreaking film. It was stylistically rich in its variety of characters, from fluffy dog-like Fizzgigs to the elven Gelfling to the evil, bird-like Skeksis, all coming from the mind of artist Brian Froud.

Jim Henson said it was the project he was most proud of, and in a list of projects that includes the Muppets, that’s saying a lot.

If you didn’t see it as a child, it’s not surprising. While the film was marketed to children in its release in 1982, it was considered dark for its time.

Later this month, The Dark Crystal comes to Netflix with a prequel series set in the years before the main heroes of the original film even existed.

The Scientist (Mark Hamill) and The Gourmand (Harvey Fierstein) in “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” (Netflix)

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is the story of a group of Gelfling who discover the Skeksis dark secret about the crystal they had sworn to protect and their plans for the Gelfling as a whole. They mount a rebellion to stop the Skeksis.

If you watch the original film, it’s not a spoiler to say this rebellion ultimately does not succeed.

Age of Resistance features a cast list of heavy hitters, many of them taking on characters already established with distinctive voices in the first film. Seriously, check out this voice cast:

• Awkwafina – “The Collector”
• Taron Edgerton – “Rian”
• Mark Hamill – “The Scientist”
• Catriona Balfe – “Tavra”
• Mark Strong – “Ordon”
• Jason Isaacs – “The Emperor”
• Helena Bonham-Carter – “All-Maudra”
• Nathalie Emmanuel – “Deet”
• Harvey Fierstein – “The Gourmand”
• Eddie Izzard – “Cadia”
• Natalie Dormer – “Onica”
• Lena Headey – “Maudra Fara”
• Toby Jones “The Librarian”
• Benedict Wong – “The General”
• And Simon Pegg as “The Chamberlain”, a character with a very distinctive voice. Getting that right will be crucial to die-hard fans of the film.

It also heavily relies on the puppetry that made the first film so special, while also combining more modern special effects.

“It is The Dark Crystal, it is the most important puppet movie of all time, we couldn’t go back and say, ‘eh, let’s go CGI’,” said director Louis Leterrier at San Diego Comic-Con in July. “It was puppets, actually, thanks to Netflix, it was always puppets.”

Wise Mother Aughra in “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” (Netflix)

“The amount of craft that goes into the making of the puppets, the artistry that goes into those creatures, and then the guys who operate them,” Egerton said at San Diego Comic-Con. “We arrive and it’s there. It’s inspiring in itself, the work that everyone else has done kind of feeds your performance.”

The series is a triumph for the Jim Henson Company, even before the first episode drops.  A sequel to The Dark Crystal, “Power of The Dark Crystal,” was stuck in development hell for years. It was finally released as a comic book series which, while amazing, couldn’t take the place of a live-action film or series.

Dark Crystal lived on in various books and comic books before Netflix greenlit Age of Resistance in 2017.

“This is the thing I am most proud of that we have done,” said executive producer Lisa Henson at San Diego Comic-Con. “Being in Hall H with this show is the greatest moment of my professional life.”

The good news is those earlier stories are not necessary to enjoy Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, though you might want to watch the movie first if you’ve never seen it, or it’s been a while since you’ve seen it.

If you’re already a Netflix subscriber, you can watch The Dark Crystal on the platform right now.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance premieres August 29 on Netflix.

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