Time Bandits Is a Hilarious, Good-Hearted, Very Waititi-ian Romp: Review

The Pitch: Adapted from the 1981 film of the same name, Time Bandits follows a rag-tag team of hooligans bouncing around through time in an effort to steal history’s greatest riches. Along the way, the gang (kinda-sorta led by Lisa Kudrow’s Penelope) runs into Kevin (Kal-El Tuck), a gleeful, factoid-loving kid who doesn’t quite fit in with his screen-obsessed family.

Throughout their journeys, The Supreme Being (Taika Waititi) and Pure Evil (Jemaine Clement), two God-like entities, attempt to steal back the blueprints to the universe (the device that has granted the gang their time-hopping abilities). Ultimately, the Time Bandits must band together to save Kevin’s family and, really, the world.

What We Do in the Shadows (of Original Source Material): In 2019, FX adapted Waititi and Clement’s vampire mockumentary film What We Do in the Shadows into a television series that would go on to span multiple seasons; though the show bears the same name, it follows different characters and makes no attempt to recreate the events of the film. Waititi and Clement must have taken notes, because for their adaptation of Time Bandits, they’ve employed similar tactics.

Beyond the elevator pitch — a kid travels time with a group of magical thieves while avoiding this world’s version of both God and the devil — the plot of Time Bandits (the Apple TV+ series) differs quite a bit from Time Bandits (the ’80s Terry Gilliam joint). The original film felt largely rooted in Gilliam’s Monty Python background, with scenes often coming across like extended sketches steeped in a sort of dry, cynical humor (and I mean that as a compliment). Meanwhile, the show feels, well, much more like a television show aimed at contemporary audiences.

This means that the pacing and tone is intensely modern, and despite having a combined runtime that is hours longer than the original film, the series is much more careful with how it uses its precious minutes. While part of the charm of Time Bandits (1981) is the bizarre, unexpected way in which the plot unfurls, such adjustments were likely the right call for turning the tale into a 2024 action-adventure.

The Bandits Steal Your Heart: The deviations from the source material don’t stop with the show’s aesthetics and plot, however, as there’s an entirely new cast of wacky characters for your viewing pleasure. The new iteration of the Time Bandits pivots away from the gruff, imperfect but more-or-less competent crew of Gilliam’s original. Instead, the new gang offers a cast of hilarious, good-hearted, bumbling buffoons, each more lovable than the last.

Time Bandits (Apple TV+)