From E.T. to The Goonies, Stand by Me or Home Alone to Matilda and The Parent Trap, children who grew up in the 80s and 90s were lucky to enjoy in cinemas live-action movies made for them and that could be enjoyed by the whole family. Today, beyond animation, Hollywood seems to have stopped betting on family cinema, something that has also been reflected in series.

They shouldn't be so surprised then when statistics confirm to them that Generation Alpha has decided to focus their attention on TikTok turning their backs on movies, streaming platforms, and, of course, traditional television, when it is clear that there is no one at the helm speaking directly to them.

That is why, and even though it has been created mainly from the nostalgia of its creators, who were children when the revisited movie was released, it is good to celebrate that a series like Time Bandits exists, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement (and Iain Morris), a creative duo that has already collaborated on hits like What We Do in the Shadows (the movie and the series), lead this remake of the classic signed by Terry Gilliam in 1981; a proposal designed for the enjoyment of the whole family, which maintains the playful spirit of the original film, radically increases its budget, and puts a brake on the extravagances of the former Monty Python, something that some may miss, but objectively is never a bad thing.

The series has the same starting point as the movie and quickly introduces Kevin, an 11-year-old boy obsessed with history whom his classmates at school always choose last for any team, and whom his parents constantly insist on doing 'normal kid' things like playing on the phone or the PlayStation.

His vivid imagination will be rewarded one night when a group of time-traveling thieves enters his room through the wardrobe - which turns out to be a temporal portal, and he is dragged with them into an incredible adventure that will take him to the prehistoric era to visit the Mayans or to enter Troy (inside the legendary horse).

Kal-El Tuck is fantastic and charming as Kevin, the boy who is a history fan as if it were a comic book superhero series, used to playing alone and having people ignore and belittle everything he has to say, even if he knows he's right. A feeling with which any child can relate in one way or another. And he has great chemistry with the group of thieves, led by a hilarious Lisa Kudrow, in a role that seems specifically written for her.

Also part of the cast are Waititi, as the Supreme Being, and Clement, in the role of the Ultimate Evil, two characters that as in the movie here also don't quite work out, but in their hands always find a way to make any nonsense sound funny.

Fans will immediately notice that in the group of thieves there is no person with dwarfism (in Terry Gilliam's work they all were), something for which the series has been criticized before its premiere. In any case, critics who have been able to see the series until the end (I have only seen five at the time of writing this review) have said that it finds a clever way to address the issue in its final episodes.

With episodes ranging from 30 to 45 minutes, The Time Bandits is a time-travel and adventure series created for today's children and those who grew up with the 80s movie. An entertaining, imaginative, and heartfelt proposal, beautiful to watch due to its large budget and with a charismatic cast of actors. It is enjoyed with pleasure and is perfect for these summer afternoons.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence