A thousand years ago, Thra fell into darkness when the Dark Crystal was
shattered. Two new races coincided with the breaking of the crystal,
the vulture-like reptiles called the Skeksis and the 4 armed mystics
known as the Mystics. It is early established that there is a bond
between these two dying races; an injury to a Skeksis is duplicated on a
Mystic. A death of a Mystic coincides with the death of a Skeksis.
Jen is a Gelfling, an elf-like creature but without all the cool features that make elves formidable . During the Skeksis genocide of the Gelflings, Jen had been rescued by the Mystics. He has lived with them ever since, believing himself to be the last Gelfling. The Mystics are a scholarly bunch and Jen has learned much from them, notably how to read and how to play a flute. On his death bed, the greatest of the Mystics tells Jen that he must go to Aughra and find the Crystal Shard. Jen has an annoying habit of a constant internal dialogue. His thoughts are narrated while he wanders the wilds in search of Aughra, mostly voicing his self-doubts and confusion.
Aughra is a one-eyed astronomer who looks rather like a Shakespearian witch. She has a basket full of Crystal Shards but cannot tell which is the true shard. Jen puzzles it out. However, before he can learn what he must do with it, the Garthim - insect-like minions of the Skeksis - force him to flee.
Jen happily comes upon Kira, a female Gelfling. Where Jen is a scholar, Kira is a druid. She speaks to all animals, even having a toothy ball of fuzz named Fizzgig as a companion. Together, they seek to complete the quest and save the world of Thra.
The most striking thing about the movie is that it is live action yet has no actors. Everything is a puppet. The world is entirely foreign. Plants are unusually active, crawling or running away when Jen comes near.
The plot is unimpressive. Finding the shard is comically easy. One wonders why the Mystics themselves didn't go on the quest since they arrive at the Dark Crystal shortly after Jen and Kira. If the Skeksis were to fight the Mystics, it could never be anything but a draw and potentially suicidal. Also, Jen is going on this epic quest to save the world and his only weapon is a flute? Kira has a sling that she uses precisely once. These two seem entirely unprepared for the task at hand and yet they pull it off.
There have been plans for a sequel. It is currently on hold.
Jen is a Gelfling, an elf-like creature but without all the cool features that make elves formidable . During the Skeksis genocide of the Gelflings, Jen had been rescued by the Mystics. He has lived with them ever since, believing himself to be the last Gelfling. The Mystics are a scholarly bunch and Jen has learned much from them, notably how to read and how to play a flute. On his death bed, the greatest of the Mystics tells Jen that he must go to Aughra and find the Crystal Shard. Jen has an annoying habit of a constant internal dialogue. His thoughts are narrated while he wanders the wilds in search of Aughra, mostly voicing his self-doubts and confusion.
Aughra is a one-eyed astronomer who looks rather like a Shakespearian witch. She has a basket full of Crystal Shards but cannot tell which is the true shard. Jen puzzles it out. However, before he can learn what he must do with it, the Garthim - insect-like minions of the Skeksis - force him to flee.
Jen happily comes upon Kira, a female Gelfling. Where Jen is a scholar, Kira is a druid. She speaks to all animals, even having a toothy ball of fuzz named Fizzgig as a companion. Together, they seek to complete the quest and save the world of Thra.
The most striking thing about the movie is that it is live action yet has no actors. Everything is a puppet. The world is entirely foreign. Plants are unusually active, crawling or running away when Jen comes near.
The plot is unimpressive. Finding the shard is comically easy. One wonders why the Mystics themselves didn't go on the quest since they arrive at the Dark Crystal shortly after Jen and Kira. If the Skeksis were to fight the Mystics, it could never be anything but a draw and potentially suicidal. Also, Jen is going on this epic quest to save the world and his only weapon is a flute? Kira has a sling that she uses precisely once. These two seem entirely unprepared for the task at hand and yet they pull it off.
There have been plans for a sequel. It is currently on hold.
I wrote this review in March 2012; the sequel is apparently still on hold. This was a big departure from his Muppet success. I remember that there had been a lot of surprise at the time (1982) that Henson could make a puppet movie that was so dark.
No comments:
Post a Comment