'Time Bandits' Review: Funny, Sweet, Gloriously Silly Adventures

Lisa Kudrow headlines an ensemble cast in a rollicking new series from Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris, and Taika Waititi, premiering on Apple TV+.

Open the wardrobe, open your mind. 

Time Bandits (2024)

The first two episodes premiere Wednesday, July 24, on Apple TV+. Subsequent episodes will debut every Wednesday. I've seen all 10 episodes. 

I have fond memories of Time Bandits (1981), a richly imaginative fantasy-adventure from director Terry Gilliam, who conceived the original idea and then wrote the script with his Monty Python bandmate Michael Palin. As much as I enjoyed watching the movie during its initial theatrical release, however, I've never felt a pressing need to rewatch it. In my mind, it's an unassailable classic. 

Created by Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris, and Taika Waititi, based only "in part" on the Gilliam and Palin's script, Time Bandits (the series) starts in modern day England, with the brainy, history-obsessed nerd Kevin, mildly tolerated by his parents and younger sister Saffron, and outright bullied by classmates. 

Spending most evenings alone in his room, exercising his imagination and his collection of playthings, Kevin is quite startled when history comes knocking on his wardrobe door. The unassuming lad is, of course, eminently well-qualified and quite ready to follow a random group of adults into the pages of history come to life. 

Penelope (Lisa Kudrow) is the leader not the leader of the group, who self-identify as time bandits, roaming through various periods of history with the goal of plundering treasures, making their way into and out of different eras through portals that open up briefly at locations that are marked on a very special map. 

The map is the true treasure, since they stole it from the possessions of the Supreme Being (Taika Waititi), who wants it back before it falls into the hands of Pure Evil (Jemaine Clement). Thus is born a series of adventures, as the time bandits are chased by a relentless demon, sent by Pure Evil to find them. 

In their university days, Clement and Waititi met and worked together in a comedy group, and Clement starred in Waititi's feature directorial debut, Eagle vs Shark (2007). They've worked together multiple times since then, including What We Do in the Shadows. Clement co-created the marvelous series Flight of the Conchords (2007); Morris, who co-created The Inbetweeners and thus is acquainted with juvenile humor, wrote two episodes of Conchords and, more recently, co-wrote Next Goal Wins (2023) with Waititi. 

The sparkling, contagious comic chemistry between Clement, Morris, and Waititi is displayed early and often in the first two, establishing episodes, written by the trio of creators and directed by Waititi. The characters are a motley group of friends who are, initially, constantly bickering. It's probably more accurate to describe their interactions as bantering, since they don't really mean to be mean to each other, but it's difficult for them to hide their wild anxieties and everyday fears, even as they disguise their true emotions under a shared blanket of cowardice.

Lisa Kudrow is the de facto leader of the group, creating a very funny variation on characters she's played before: the boastful, outwardly courageous and decisive figure who is only too happy to pin the blame for anything that goes wrong on someone else. Really, anyone else but her. 

Young Kal-El Tuck acquits himself quite well as Kevin, the kid with a never-say-die, very cheerful and positive spirit. As members of the somewhat dim-witted time bandits, Tadhg Murphy as would-be actor Alto, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva as mapkeeper Widgit, Charlyne Yi as Judy, and Rune Temte as sweet and strong Bittelig, all contribute to the jovial adventures, each displaying different characteristics. Kiera Thompson, as Kevin's younger sister Saffron, is especially resilient as she joins the grand adventure. 

The predominant thought that kept arising in my mind was: sweet. The dialogue is quite clever, and funny by itself, which is amplified by the understated delivery of the actors, which frequently made me laugh out loud. 

As I watched all ten episodes, I wondered why Charlyne Yi's character simply disappears about halfway through, with little to no mention about what happened to . I was dismayed to read that in May, Yi claimed they were assaulted on set during production, which led to their departure from the show. Reportedly, her claims have not yet been substantiated. 

Still, it leaves a sour aftertaste on a show that I enjoyed thoroughly. [Apple TV+]