"The Dark Crystal is a difficult film to categorize, evaluate, and appreciate. For every positive thing one can say about it, a corresponding negative can be cited: It is a brilliantly conceived world... inhabited by less than compelling central characters; it is a marvel of technological achievement... all but undone by the limitations of technology; it is a very adult fantasy... that works best for undemanding adolescents; and, finally, it is a triumph of the puppeteer's art... which cannot escape its Muppet origins."