The Jim Hendrix Company Brought to Netflix late Last year a Prequel series of the 80’s movie The Dark Crystal. Which brings you to the world of Thra & follows the Journey of several Gelflings who soon discover the true secret behind the terrifying Skeksis power, once they do they set out to ignite the fires of rebellion before it’s to late.
One of the first things you will notice while watching the show is the World in which the characters live in is so vast & visual Stunning this mainly down to the mix of the set design between practical effects & C.G.I., With C.G.I. Being around only 10% means that it is only used when needed & not just used for the sake of using it. This nice mix between the two gives the show itself an almost timeless Feel to it. This also be seen in the wide range of different creatures shows the amount of though that the people behind the show had as they brought plenty of fresh idea’s that expanded the world of Thra.
It is also a nice change seeing the classic Puppetry technique used for the character’s which seems to follow a trend in recent times where character’s such as the Famous ‘Baby Yoda’ are being used instead of always turning to C.G.I. Character’s such Hup, Deet & all of the Skeksis are so well crafted & the show does a brilliant job at showing a lot of emotions for each of the characters. It is not just the Puppetry technique which are so cleverly used, one of the Best Usage of C.G.I. in the show has to be in the Title card at the start of each episode is done so smoothly & eloquently.
There are plenty of stand out performance’s throughout the cast on the show from Simon Pegg as the Chamberlain whose performance as the Chamberlain really honors Frank Oz’s past portrayal of the character. Victor Yerrid & Nathalie Emmanuel portrayal as Hup + Deet are for me the two of the best partnership’s in the show there chemistry that they have is really fun to watch. The rest of the cast from Mark Hamill, Anya Taylor-Joy to Andy Samberg don’t leave a stone unturned in there performances which on first viewing.
Overall this show is a huge breath of fresh air visually as well as through the interactions between all the different characters I would highly recommend to give this show a try.
Daniel Lane Digital Photography 