hndollar Review of Time Bandits

Time Bandits (1981)

A neglected boy gets mixed up with a band of dwarfs and their quest for treasure through the pages of history.

[4/10 · 22 September 2007]

I'm a big fan of some of Gilliam's other films, but this one just doesn't measure up. While there are a lot of interesting ideas scattered throughout the work, it ends up becoming a somewhat modernized regurgitation of Gulliver's Travels. The original characterization of the parents isn't very effective, Satan does carnival tricks to defeat the good guys (Go Go Gadget knife), and God comes traipsing in during the finale to reveal his ultimate plan. Not only does Gilliam cop out with deus ex machina, but he uses the cliché of waking from a dream as well. While he undermines this by killing off the boy's parents, that only serves to leave an 8 year old kid with nothing in the world. And then Sean Connery winks at him? I'm sorry, but the ideas are scattered and incohesive, making the film fall flat.