Highlights
- Apple TV+ released the first full-length trailer of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 film, Time Bandits. You can watch the trailer below.
- Lisa Kudrow stars as Penelope, the de facto leader of the time-hopping crew. Clement and Waititi also star.
- The first two episodes of the series drop on July 24th.
Time Bandits Hot take: the rightful heir to Terry Gilliam’s awesomely bonkers style of epic comedic fantasy filmmaking in the modern-day is the partnership of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. Yeah, go ahead and try to convince me otherwise, I’ll play clips of What We Do in the Shadows in response to anything you say.
The wondrous Waitiment duo hits our screens on July 24 with their serial adaptation of Gilliam’s 1981 hit film of the same name, Time Bandits. The plot centers on a boy with an obsession with history who finds himself joining a posse of time-traveling thieves. In anticipation, Apple TV+ dropped a thrilling trailer giving us a taste of what’s in store.
Who are the Time Bandits?
As the de facto leader, Penelope (Lisa Kudrow) explains, the Time Bandits are “a crack team of expert thieves” who use a map to travel to various points in time to steal priceless artifacts. And vases. Besides Penelope, Alto (Tadhg Murphy), Widgit (Roger Jean Nsengiyumva), Bittelig (Rune Temte), and Judy (Charlyne Yi) make up the rest of the team.
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Kevin Haddock, played by the remarkably named Kal-El Tuck, is our encyclopedic history enthusiast-turned-stowaway. Kevin’s involvement begins when his room becomes a “time egress,” a jumping-off point for the Time Bandits to access their various burglary targets.
Who Is Watching the Time Bandits?
The map the Time Bandits use in their heists is the key to some grander schemes. Waititi appears in the trailer, explaining that the map must not fall into the wrong hands. (Based on the forces at work in the original film, he is probably the Supreme Being but his role’s name hasn’t been officially announced.) Clement then appears as exactly those wrong hands (and horned visage) Waititi refers to. (He is credited as Wrongness. Also, he’s probably evil. In the Gilliam movie, the character was actually named Evil).
Kevin’s eagerness to see all the most remarkable events in history unfold in person is tempered by his desire to return safely home. Although the Time Bandits are (allegedly) the most proficient pilferers in the history of larceny, they have rather poor attention to detail or childminding skills.
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Where Will the Time Bandits Go?
The O.G. film hit mostly Western European sites and moments in history. The series looks to be more wide-ranging. The trailer shows Penelope et al facing down Zheng Yi Sao. She’s the infamous Chinese pirate queen. Interestingly, the character was a major part of Waititi’s Our Flag Means Death Season 2.
The trailer also reveals adventures in deserts, Ancient Troy, Stonehenge, and the Mayan Empire. Encounters with sultans, giants, prehistoric flying creatures, and Neanderthals also feature.
The ten-episode series of Time Bandits begins streaming on Apple TV+ on July 24 with a two-episode premiere. Two new episodes will drop each subsequent Wednesday.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-season-6-predictions/
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