Apple TV+’s Time Bandits Is a Winning Adventure-Comedy Romp

The film output of Taika Waititi and the television output of Taika Waititi, despite their shared DNA, feel like the products of two different worlds. Yes, it’s the same oversaturated, smarmy New Zealand personality acting as a key creative force in both mediums, but comparing the downward trend of Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Next Goal Wins to the straight wins of What We Do in the Shadows, Reservation Dogs, Our Flag Means Death—and now Time Bandits—is kind of shocking. 

Yes, Waititi’s involvement is much more central and focused in film projects, which all credit him as director and co-writer, but it’s too easy to suggest that Waititi-attached TV fares better because he’s less creatively present (sometimes not even being a writer, like on Our Flag Means Death, or writing only one episode for Reservation Dogs).

It’s more likely that Waititi’s talents are just better suited for television, where there’s less need for constant spectacle or incisive messaging, and a bigger space for funny people riffing in low-stakes sitcom plots. To be charitable to a man who’s clearly talented, if increasingly grating, Waititi’s most winning projects of late are ones that, by design, are more collaborative—with many different writers, directors, and performers getting to shine within him and his co-creators/producers’ vision. His series aren’t just more dependable because he’s involved in them less directly, but because they play to his strengths of character, tone, and collaboration.

All of this to say that Time Bandits is very good. Created by Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, and The Inbetweeners writer Iain Morris, it’s a rebooted version of the classic (well, classic to Brits of my uncle’s age) 1981 fantasy film from Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, expanded into a 10-episode romp on Apple TV+ (who may have finally read our reviews and realized they need to stop burning cash). In this version, thieving defectors of a Supreme Being (Waititi) portal-leap across Earth’s history with a lonely 11-year-old history nerd in possession of a fantastical map, pursued by both the Supreme Being and his demonic nemesis, Pure Evil (Jemaine Clement). For superfans of Waititi’s New Zealand work, there are plenty of exciting familiar faces: Wellington Paranormal’s Karen O’Leary and Mike Minogue as a double-faced demon; Samoan and Pacific Islander actors Oscar Knightley and Roy Iro; a What We Do in the Shadows film reunion with Jonny Burgh.

But enough about funny New Zealand people! Time Bandits centers around two main characters, Kevin Haddock (Kal-El Tuck), a boy plucked out of time for a quest to save his parents, and Penelope (Lisa Kudrow), the scatterbrained and sarcastic de facto leader of the bandits. Kevin’s unwavering “teacher’s pet” energy is purposefully annoying without the show making us hate a child character or actor, and Tuck does a commendable job with a demanding role—he has to speak with authority surrounded by outlandish characters in a plot-heavy adventure series with a new historical setting every episode.

It may come as no surprise to seasoned TV fans, but Kudrow is utterly fantastic in Time Bandits, blending into the riff-heavy style of Waititi’s series and carrying the emotional stakes of a show that veers between grave peril and utter nonsense a few times per episode. It’s been evident for thirty years now that she has the comic timing of a true master, and after years of side roles in buzzy new comedies like Booksmart or Feel Good, she makes the most of main character status in delightful ways, suggesting that the so-random, improv-heavy faults of many Waititi-related comedies can still show winning results in the right hands.

In addition, the usual problems with Waititi’s brand of off-kilter, constantly-talking comedy are not a problem in a kids show—not because it should be treated any less critically, but because his and his co-writers’ instincts excite and entertain in an appealingly childlike way. Watching jabbering spats and Python-esque silliness in iconic historical settings wins you over in the exact same way children enjoy similarly-toned comedies like Horrible Histories, where expectations about the past are pastiched or undermined with an energetic, theater-troupe rotating cast giving their all.

Once Time Bandits gets into its stride after a bumpy, exposition-heavy first couple of episodes (and the show picks a different world to do nonsense in—Georgian England, Prohibition-era Harlem, the Ice Age), you realize this series is basically a stealth Dungeons & Dragons campaign in live-action, with a bizarre mix of conflicting personalities trying to speedrun in chaos mode through a frustrated dungeon master’s story. In the season’s latter half, the fantasy plot supersedes our character-focused frolicking and the frothy misadventure vibes of Time Bandits take a slight knock, but the show confidently regains its footing for a conclusion that sets up a prospective next season of adventure and inter-dimensional intrigue that, no matter how skeptical you initially felt, you’ll want to see where—or when—we end up next.

Time Bandits premieres Wednesday, July 24th on Apple TV+. 

Rory Doherty is a screenwriter, playwright and culture writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. You can follow his thoughts about all things stories @roryhasopinions.

For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV.