Time Bandits (1981)

I mentioned that I would see another consecutive movie about a boy. Thankfully, it's quite different. In fact, despite the PG rating, I hesitate to count it as a family flick. IMDb doesn't. (Non-American studios, I find, are more likely to have kid-unfriendly stories starring kids.)

Kevin, 11, suffers from parents uninterested in his interest in history. One night, his bedroom is accidentally invaded by six time-traveling dwarves. They're interested in history, of course, but not for the same reason: They want to steal the riches of the past. Despite his disapproval of that plan, Kevin tags along, with nary a language barrier. He learns that they've worked for the Supreme Being himself on maintenance of the space-time continuum, and since they swiped his temporal map, they have to keep moving. (They've been around for eons but seem as vulnerable as humans.) Little do they realize that the scarier threat is from Evil himself, looking to grab the map for his own ends.

If you're picturing a sillier version of the Voyagers! TV series, you may be disappointed. Kevin doesn't put much of any historical knowledge to use, tho that doesn't stop the dwarves from coming to recognize his value (they are rather unstable in brains and grace). Nor do we see them visit half as many points in history as Bill and Ted. I doubt I'd've learned anything even at age 11, except maybe that Agamemnon was an alleged Grecian king.

No, for all the childlike simplicity, this is very much a Terry Gilliam movie. Dreaminess, time-traveling criminals, dwarves, the devil incarnate, a less-than-perfect Creator, satirically shallow British materialists, a limited budget, medieval knights, random violence, not much for women to do, the lack of a real hero, an allergy to truly happy endings...it reminds me of every other work of his that I've seen except (thankfully) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Don't get too excited by the many familiar names in the cast. The ones with the first billing -- among them John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and Ian Holm -- are one-scene wonders, mostly playing key historical or mythical figures. The actors with dwarfism were apparently the best Britain had to offer in the '80s, but the only one whose name is likely to ring a bell is the late Kenny Baker. As for the actor of Kevin, well, I'm not surprised he never went on to more cinema.

As a comedy, it's pretty Pythonian, as well it should be. As an adventure, it can be gripping -- when you forget the comedy aspects. As a fantasy, it could use some better-defined premises to really bring out the colorful side.

I think what TB needed most is more time, partly for more historical mishaps and partly to get the hang of the dwarves' individual personalities. In fact, I think it'd make a promising TV series. Considering all the other adaptations of late, maybe it could happen, if Gilliam would be so accommodating. I don't think the artsy director ever made so much as a sequel, but he might be persuaded.