Netflix’s The Dark Crys­tal series cap­tures the essence of Henson’s original

Of all the visions Jim Hen­son shared dur­ing his pro­lif­ic (though too-short) career, The Dark Crys­tal was the project of which he was most proud. In 1982, it made huge strides in the field of prac­ti­cal effects, and explored his favourite the­mat­ic ter­rain: adven­ture, resilience, com­mu­ni­ty, ecology.

Almost 40 years on, The Dark Crys­tal: Age of Resis­tance takes that same song of Thra and trans­pos­es it for the Anthro­pocene. Here, notions of bal­ance, con­nec­tion and sym­bio­sis are like three suns ris­ing on a new age of won­der – and worry.

The 10-part series, like its antecedent fea­ture, quick­ly proves that pup­petry is an ide­al medi­um for telling fan­tas­ti­cal, unset­tling, even dis­turb­ing para­bles about human­i­ty. As a pre­quel, Age of Resis­tance con­tex­tu­alis­es its fore­bear – a vis­cer­al work that still beats with the blood, sweat and tears of co-direc­tors Hen­son and Frank Oz – while also shed­ding light on new facets of the intri­cate sto­ry world.

The lush plan­et Thra is home to myr­i­ad crea­tures. Pas­sive Gelfling obey the arch rul­ing class, the Skek­sis, until an eco­log­i­cal dis­as­ter called ​‘the Dark­en­ing’ cor­rupts the land. Then a brave group of Gelfling must con­front their impe­r­i­al over­lords in hope of sav­ing Thra and all her inhabitants.

Direct­ed by action man Louis Leter­ri­er (The Trans­porter series), Age of Resis­tance hon­ours its pre­de­ces­sor visu­al­ly and spir­i­tu­al­ly. Though pup­petry and prac­ti­cal effects have become a lost art in recent years, here they are trans­fix­ing, aug­ment­ing real­i­ty with a dash of the uncanny.

There’s even a scene in which two char­ac­ters per­form their own pup­pet show, only to be met with Gelfling groans. (The meta humour would give Hen­son a grin.) And, as in the film, some of the most evoca­tive moments tran­spire between scenes, lin­ger­ing on wild land­scapes laden with glo­ri­ous detail (I love you, bio­lu­mi­nes­cent grass). Although some CGI is obvi­ous, it ser­vices the sto­ry, and is seem­ing­ly used only to realise ele­ments that couldn’t be cap­tured in camera.

Over­all, Resis­tance main­tains a rev­er­ent ener­gy as it expands on the film and its broad­er mythol­o­gy. Ear­ly episodes con­tain enough expo­si­tion to make this acces­si­ble to new­com­ers, but it’s die-hard fans who will reap great­est reward from the com­plex and, some­times, com­pli­cat­ed narrative.

With sev­en whole Gelfling clans, as opposed to the film’s final two indi­vid­u­als, there are a throng of new char­ac­ters to keep track of. That’s in addi­tion to the estab­lished Skek­sis and Mys­tics (also known as urRu, con­spic­u­ous­ly absent from the series’ first half). This glut is ini­tial­ly over­whelm­ing but will improve with repeat viewings.

Our heroes and vil­lains are voiced by fan­ta­sy and sci-fi stal­warts. MVP goes to Simon Pegg as the sly, con­niv­ing Cham­ber­lain. But the char­ac­ters are, of course, per­formed by expert pup­peteers, many of whom – such as Louise Gold and Kevin Clash – have long-stand­ing con­nec­tions to the Jim Hen­son Com­pa­ny. Even Dave Goelz – bet­ter known as Gonzo the Great – returns to Thra to viv­i­fy anoth­er Fiz­zgig. This col­lec­tive pres­ence, plus that of exec­u­tive pro­duc­er Lisa Hen­son and the Froud fam­i­ly of design­ers, feels like an hon­est, pre­cious reflec­tion of the com­mu­ni­ty spir­it espoused on screen.

So when Kylan (Shaz­ad Latif) tells griev­ing Brea (Anya Tay­lor-Joy) to ​“speak for the dead” and share her best mem­o­ries, it’s hard not to con­sid­er the late elder Hen­son, whose for­ma­tive work is inex­tri­ca­bly bound to this series. That said, Resis­tance is plen­ty inven­tive in its own right, too (though specifics here would spoil the surprises).

The abun­dance of char­ac­ters means the show doesn’t ache with the film’s des­o­late­ly lone­some mood. Still, many pas­sages are heavy with despair as Leter­ri­er leans into grotesque, abject hor­ror – reaf­firm­ing that this is def­i­nite­ly not for kids. And despite the seem­ing­ly ​‘hap­py’ end­ing, versed view­ers will know that life for the Gelfling is about to sour. Does that make Resis­tance, well, futile?

As a com­ment on colo­nial­ism, Age of Resis­tance is stealthy but astute. As a siren warn­ing of life’s fragili­ty, it’s con­fronting but cru­cial. As a call-to-arms for curios­i­ty, empa­thy and com­pas­sion, it’s nev­er been more rel­e­vant. Truth lies in the balance.

The Dark Crys­tal: Age of Resis­tance arrives on Net­flix on Fri­day 30 August.