Review: Willow

Willow can be derivative at times and it lacks the mega-budget of some other streaming shows, but it has a sincerity about it and delivers a fun fatnasy entry populated with colorful characters.

Right now is a good time to be a fan of epic fantasy.  Not only do you have HBO’s House of the Dragon (along with the other Game of Thrones spin-offs) and Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power vying for top honors among big-budget fantasy shows, but you also have The Wheel of Time (Amazon), The Witcher (Netflix), Shadow and Bone (Netflix), The Legend of Vox Machina (Amazon), Sweet Tooth (Netflix), and even the overlooked British entry Britannia currently streaming on EPIX (more on that at this link).  Amidst all of these, Disney+ has put forth its own entry in the fantasy sweepstakes with Willow which just wrapped up its first season.

The show is a follow-up to the 1988 George Lucas film of the same name.  In the original movie, an aspiring sorcerer named Willow (who is a member of the dwarvish race known as the Nelwyn) is tasked with protecting an infant from an evil queen who fears a prophecy that the child will bring about her doom.  The film was written by Lucas and directed by Ron Howard and performed reasonably well at the Box Office when it first came out.  It never attained the same acclaim as Lucas’ Star Wars films, but Willow went on to become somewhat of a cult favorite and there had been talks of a sequel for years with original star Warwick Davis expressing an interest in returning to the role.  Those plans eventually morphed into the television series that is now on Disney+.  The show takes place seventeen years after the events of the movie, and the child (Elora Danan) has grown up and must go on a quest with Willow and several other heroes to face a dangerous evil that threatens the world.

The original movie was somewhat derivative, incorporating various fantasy cliches and bits of familiar lore while also inviting many similarities to the plot of the first Star Wars film (the real first film from 1977, not The Phantom Menace).  But it was still good fun and went down easy at a time when there were not too many epic fantasy films in the theaters.  The series also has a familiar feel to it, throwing in plenty of copy-and-paste fantasy tropes, especially at the beginning.  But it also has a sincerity to it that draws you in and keeps you involved with the story as it starts to take some twists and turns.  It is populated with a variety of characters that stand out beyond fantasy archetypes, with even some of the small roles making notable impressions.  And while the story can get murky at times and also throw in some leaps of logic, the fact that it never takes itself too seriously and that the actors have good chemistry keeps it rolling along.

Another strength of the show is the fact that it is not constantly pushing its production values to the forefront to try and impress the viewers.  In comparison to House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power (both of which I did like, more on that at this link), Willow has a much more modest budget.  Not that it is a cheap production, but it does not have the deep pockets of either of those shows and actually relies on practical effects as much as CGI.  That is a rather welcome change of pace as it uses its sfx judicially and does not dwell on its production values with long, ponderous shots as we would see at times in the two shows mentioned above, especially The Rings of Power.  Willow instead lets the story and more so the characters carry the show.

Warwick Davis is truly the heart and soul of the series, and that makes sense seeing as he lobbied for years for the show to happen.  He plays an older, grumpier, more world-weary Willow, but the character sticks to his convictions and leads this group of misfits to the challenges they must face.  And while he is core to the series, this is very much an ensemble piece with plenty of new faces that could carry on the show for years.  Joanne Whalley reprises her role from the film as Sorsha and genre fans will recognize Erin Kellyman from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but most of the actors in primary roles are relatively new.  They were well-selected, though, and all of the performers deliver their best performances to help give the series a spark.

Very importantly, Willow tells its story in one season.  It definitely set up more seasons to follow, but the main plot is resolved by the final episode and brings the story to a resolution.  With so many shows getting cancelled after one season, it should become a requirement that they wrap up as many storylines as possible by the last episode so as not to leave viewers hanging.  More seasons could follow for Willow, and there are already talks of where the show would go (the final scene suggests a trilogy, making a three-season run a possibility), but if this is all we get from the show viewers will not be too disappointed.  It acts as a continuation to the original movie while also standing well on its own.  And it may not be a high-dollar production that revels in excessive CGI, but it still delivers an epic fantasy that can be fun and that is populated by a delightful cast of characters.

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