From the very beginning, The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance has a challenge — honor the 1982 film while also creating a new story that feels both familiar and original to fans and new viewers alike.

If you’re of a certain age, The Dark Crystal is one of those films you hold in a special place in your heart. It’s a film that is both endearing and terrifying. One children have watched for decades and have then grown up to show their children, who will likely go on to do the same.

After all, a fight against evil, especially one as underdog in nature as the one between the diminutive yet noble Gelfling and the evil Skeksis, is one of those fights you can’t help but be caught up in.

The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance understands this exact fact and delivers beautifully.

Before I get into anything, I do need to address the elephant in the room. If you’ve seen The Dark Crystal, you know how all of this is going to turn out. It’s just one of those things you have to acknowledge.

That said, knowing where a story’s going to go doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it along the way and, lucky for all of us, there’s a lot to enjoy in The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance.

‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ review

The Characters

There are a lot more Gelflings or Gelfling (I admit, I forget which one is the plural). Just roll with me here, people.

Where The Dark Crystal introduced you to two Gelfling, Age of Resistance introduces you to a whole lot of them. Thra is home to seven different Gelfling clans, each unique in their own way. Our heroes, Rian, Deet, and Brea come from the warrior Stonewood, the gentle Groton who live underground, and the Ha’rar, who are the lead Gelfling clan. But every clan gets represented in one form or another which opens up the story and deepens our understanding of the Gelfling.

Age of Resistance also introduces us to more Skeksis. In this time, the Skeksis are revered lords of the Crystal and, while we know they’re vile and disgusting, as far as the Gelfling are concerned, they’re noble lords to be served.

They also get a lot more screen time and personality than we’ve seen before. Each Skeksis is unique. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll recognize some of them from their much less tattered finery, but Age of Resistance will deepen your understanding. Having watched The Dark Crystal again after I watched the series, it was fascinating to see the differences in each of them.

The Puppetering

One of the smartest things Age of Resistance has done is keep what made The Dark Crystal so magical: the puppetry. It would have been easy to capitalize on the love for the original film and make this series a CGI project, but it would lack what makes this world so amazing. That’s not to say the project doesn’t use CGI, after all, you have puppeteers to hide and landscapes to create, but much of what you see is practical like the original.

However, a lot has changed in the 37 years since the original film and all for the better when it comes to things at The Jim Henson Company. Age of Resistance takes things to a whole new level with more action, fight scenes, sword fights, and vehicles and creatures that frankly blew my mind.

There’s a carriage chase in this series that still has me wondering how in the world they did it.

The Cast

The voice cast for Age of Resistance is the real jewel. Both Taron Edgerton and Anna Taylor-Joy are perfect as Rian and Brea and Nathalie Emmanuel brings both wonder and heart to Deet. Getting top-caliber actors like Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Heady, Catriona Balfe, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to play Gelfling is certainly going to add a richness to your project. But the Skeksis is where Age of Resistance goes from great to amazing.

Simon Pegg‘s Chamberlain is so good it makes me wonder if he’s been doing the voice for years. He’s got the whimper down! Mark Hamill is equal parts manic and conniving as The Scientist, and Jason Isaacs’s Emperor is frighteningly good. But the rest of the Skeksis cast is just as fun. Harvey Fierstein, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, Benedict Wong just to name a few and all of them get time to flesh out their roles because the Skeksis have a lot more to do and say.

There’s also a series of scenes featuring two well known comedic actors that I won’t spoil for you, but let’s just say Episode 8 is amazeballs.

Everything on a grander scale

What will blow you away about The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is the sheer scale. The attention to detail. The sets, the production design, the costumes, the hairstyles, so much has gone into this series to both enrich and deepen the lore of the original film.

Age of Resistance doesn’t just honor the original film, it’s built on that foundation and has grown naturally outward just as the puppeteering and technical skills of The Jim Henson Company have. There’s mastery in every moment and part of me thinks it’s a shame that Age of Resistance is so good, because you’re so engrossed in the actual show that you don’t really have time to stop and appreciate just how much work, blood, sweat, talent, and hours went into making this fascinating world.

Of course, I’m sure that’s exactly how Jim Henson would want it.

The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance premieres on Netflix on August 30.