Film Dark, Beautiful, Sort of Boring
When it comes to Jim Hensen, you can always expect something charming, imaginative or fun. In terms of imagination, Dark Crystal most definitely reigns supreme. The movie is visual masterpiece, creating an entire world so vast, it had it's own book published to expand on the lore and creatures. And, like anything that has Jim Hensen's name attached, the costumes and puppet work are out of this world. It's also noticeably darker compared to the likes of Hensen's other works, as some of the character designs and effects can be quite creepy.
Unfortunately, the film is much more fun to look at than it is to watch. The overall plot is fairly simple, as a single gelfing is given the monumental task of locating a missing shard of the legendary Dark Crystal before the alignment of the three suns. Why must this monumental task fall upon him? I wish I knew. The story is simple, but we aren't given enough time to give a lot of the characters depth or agency. It just sort of feels rushed.
Still, like I said, it's a visual marvel that has to be seen to be believed. I'm glad I saw it, just don't think I'd see it again.
Film Amazing visuals more than make up for weak story
It should go without scything that the best part of this movie is, without a doubt, the visuals. Aside from the typically masterful puppetry from Henson, the sets and designs are so detailed and original that its hard not to get completely sucked into it. There wasn't a single point in the movie that what was on screen didn't hold my undivided attention. If nothing else, you have to appreciate the degree of effort that went into everything.
The story, while not necessarily bad, is pretty weak. Now it's certainly not terrible; there is certainly a clearly defined conflict and progression of events, and an original concept that is certainly interesting. However, the individual scenes mostly consist of just a lot of the characters babbling and prancing around. The plot is also essentially just there to progress from one scene to another, and there isn't much of an arc for any of the characters. But that all said, I think that was the point. In a similar strain to Labyrinth, what this movie cares about is showing off the visuals and the ideas. And in that end, it gloriously succeeds.
If your a fantasy fan, give this one a look. The story may not be much, but the visuals make up for it ten times over.