Time BanditsWhen I was a little kid, I used to spend hours playing with my toys, action figures, imagining scenarios and adventures with them, dreams and fantasies. I might have had an overactive imagination, but it pales in comparison to Kevin's in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. Stuck in a suburban carbon copy home with his product and game show obsessed parents who don't listen to him, Kevin (Craig Warnock) dreams of far away lands and mighty heroes, great battles in history, and all sorts of things far from his boring life in the cul-de-sac. The funny thing is that one night, he gets drawn into an adventure surpassing his wildest dreams.
|
|
When a band of diminutive ne'er-do-wells and former employees in the service of the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) emerge from his armoire, flailing about with a map to the secret holes in creation, Kevin gets taken along for the ride. He and his roguish compatriots end up across time and space, in centuries far past, and even in places which exist only within the minds of little boys. His encounters with figures of history and myth are often played for hilarity, with comical exaggerations and outright silliness being the predominant tone; this should come as little surprise given the pedigree of the film. Directed by Terry Gilliam and co-written with Michael Palin, the film also features John Cleese as none other than Robin Hood, a jovial politician in a felt green cap, talking about "wealth redistribution". For fans of the Monty Python crew, the influence is evident. Kevin jaunts through the ages with the amateur thieves, robbing from Napoleon (Ian Holm), whose predilection to keep his hand within his coat makes for a great sight gag which reminded me of the joke about the sound of one hand clapping. At one point, Kevin makes his way to Mycenae, befriending Agamemnon (Sean Connery), and we're reminded just how dismal his boring life was in reality compared to his fantasy in ancient Greece. Frankly, Time Bandits is the ultimate form of escape for Kevin, running from his dull life where he is ignored by soulless parents. It's possible--even probable--that Kevin's adventure is nothing more than a dream, with fantastic settings and colorful characters which are acutely aligned with his own interests prior to turning in that evening--the climax of the film plays to this end, with the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness being composed from Legos and the weapons used to fight "Evil" (David Warner) apparently dredged from the toy box, with cowboys, spaceships, knights, and more. Is this the real life, or is it fantasy? The lines blur a bit.
"Evil turned out pretty well." Strange thing for the Supreme Being to utter to a little boy, upon being asked why so many had to die. Is He ambivalent to the suffering of others, researching the success of evil without regard for the consequences? Certainly, this question has been asked before, but as the Supreme Being also comments, "it has something to do with free will". The manifestation of Evil is something of a metaphor for what has been lost in the natural world, a parallel with the kind of rampant consumerism and technophilia which has gripped Kevin's parents and stolen away their humanity. For a little boy feeling unloved by his parents, what bigger kind of evil is there? As if to drive home the similarities, Evil's minions are virtually all wrapped in plastic, much like all the furniture in Kevin's house--seriously, who does that? There is also another social commentary about the nature of evil in Time Bandits, even just a one-off line, when Evil is being confronted by weapons of war, and all are not only completely useless against him, but they seem to work to his favor; he comments that of course the bandits can't control them, he does. Weapons of war are evil's forte, as the metaphor would have us believe, and serve no benefit when used against him. Time Bandits is filled with colorful settings which appears all the more exciting when compared with Kevin's drab "normal" life. The "Time of Legends" hosts a great scene when the boat which the bandits have been brought aboard suddenly picks up from the sea, now serving as the hat for some titanic giant, stomping across the landscape. Not content just with a fantastic image, there is a comic addition when the giant inadvertently steps on some poor fool's shack. Beatles alumni George Harrison contributes the closing song for the credits, an upbeat selection titled "Dream Away"...dream away, Kevin, and visit new worlds of adventure.
Recommended for: Fans of a family-friendly romp through irreverent slices of history and fantasy, with a boisterous band of comical characters and a premise which young boys who love tales of action and daring will find an immediate connection with.
"Evil turned out pretty well." Strange thing for the Supreme Being to utter to a little boy, upon being asked why so many had to die. Is He ambivalent to the suffering of others, researching the success of evil without regard for the consequences? Certainly, this question has been asked before, but as the Supreme Being also comments, "it has something to do with free will". The manifestation of Evil is something of a metaphor for what has been lost in the natural world, a parallel with the kind of rampant consumerism and technophilia which has gripped Kevin's parents and stolen away their humanity. For a little boy feeling unloved by his parents, what bigger kind of evil is there? As if to drive home the similarities, Evil's minions are virtually all wrapped in plastic, much like all the furniture in Kevin's house--seriously, who does that? There is also another social commentary about the nature of evil in Time Bandits, even just a one-off line, when Evil is being confronted by weapons of war, and all are not only completely useless against him, but they seem to work to his favor; he comments that of course the bandits can't control them, he does. Weapons of war are evil's forte, as the metaphor would have us believe, and serve no benefit when used against him. Time Bandits is filled with colorful settings which appears all the more exciting when compared with Kevin's drab "normal" life. The "Time of Legends" hosts a great scene when the boat which the bandits have been brought aboard suddenly picks up from the sea, now serving as the hat for some titanic giant, stomping across the landscape. Not content just with a fantastic image, there is a comic addition when the giant inadvertently steps on some poor fool's shack. Beatles alumni George Harrison contributes the closing song for the credits, an upbeat selection titled "Dream Away"...dream away, Kevin, and visit new worlds of adventure.
Recommended for: Fans of a family-friendly romp through irreverent slices of history and fantasy, with a boisterous band of comical characters and a premise which young boys who love tales of action and daring will find an immediate connection with.