Time Bandits

Despite the huge budget the show clearly has, it says a lot that some of the most memorable moments come when the show strips that down, focusing more on the people than the place they’re in. Overall, though, the series is a fun and heartwarming ride, with plenty of potential to go further should they decide to.

There are enough funny elements, and good performances, in Time Bandits to keep watching beyond the first episode. But we’re not sure there is enough there to sustain audience interest — whether it’s kids or adults — for ten episodes.

Waititi and Clement’s lack of breaking stereotypes surrounding the little people first seen in the film could have been considered, instead of pushing them to the background. While the season finale sets up a bigger story for them, it should have been equally emphasized. This lack of depth in the ensemble cast diminishes Time Bandits' overall impact, as it fails to stand out as a series worthy of the cult classic.

The 10-episode season is passable, even pleasing, for the most part. It rarely feels overly indebted to its predecessor, even if it’s also not ambitious enough in mapping out its own course. Maybe a second season is all they need to break up the routine.

"Time Bandits" is genuinely educational and quite definitely a family program. But the bandits themselves (Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Kiera Thompson and Rune Temte) are rather dim and their leader, Penelope (Lisa Kudrow), is little more than a sour-dispositioned kleptomaniac.

Though relatively faithful in premise to Terry Gilliam’s 1981 original, this TV remake sands down most of its edges.

Depending on one’s attachment to Terry Gilliam’s 1981 movie, the series version of “Time Bandits” on Apple TV+ will land somewhere between a loving reboot and cinematic heresy.

It’s a lesser piece of work from its creators, having the rough comic shape of their more famous material, but not being distinctive, funny, or emotionally resonant enough to stick.

The show is unfailingly clever, visually interesting and at least mildly amusing. It is wan, though, compared to other series that Clement, Morris and Waititi have collaborated on, like “Flight of the Conchords” and the riotous “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Despite its combination of great comedy talents, this ambitious adaptation sadly falls flat, failing to capture the anarchic zing of the original.