I was a huge fan of Willow when I was a kid. It was one of those things I wanted to watch over and over. I loved the soundtrack, the characters, and most of all, it fulfilled my desire for mediaeval fantasy onscreen better than anything else I'd seen at the time, except maybe Excalibur or The Last Unicorn. It was the best live action mediaeval fantasy that someone under the age of 14 could watch. Anyway, this means I was certainly going to tune in for the premiere of the new Disney+ Willow series last night. I wouldn't say, "I was excited for it", life has taught me too many lessons for that. But I'm happy to say I enjoyed it, for the most part.
I was such a Willow fan that I actually read the three books George Lucas and Chris Clairemont wrote as sequels to the original film. They weren't great books, though the tone of the first one is memorable. But after taking so much flack for disregarding George Lucas when making the Star Wars sequel trilogy, it's surprising the Willow series deviated just as much. In this version, the focus is on the children of Madmartigan and Sorsha. Joanne Whalley returns as Sorsha and does a good job but, sadly, Val Kilmer's heath issues prevented him from returning as Madmartigan, everyone's favourite character from the original film. But the tone of this show is frankly so different from the film, it's hard to see where he'd fit in in a satisfying way.
Their daughter, Princess Kit (Ruby Cruz), is a feisty, somewhat annoying young warrior, something that might bother a lot of people, but I know a young Luke Skywalker when I see one. This is the medicine audiences don't like to take but which often makes for some of the most interesting fantasy protagonists. She's also a lesbian and in love with a young, wouldbe knight called Jade, played by Erin Kellyman, whom Disney still apparently really wants to be a star.
I don't imagine this show will do the trick. There's the homophobic factor, particularly tricky waters to navigate in family fare, and her character is basically just stoic and supportive. So far.
The two end up going on a quest with a small fellowship of the Tolkien mould, which I'm definitely always up for. They're off to rescue Kit's brother, a Robert Plant-ish lothario played by Dempsey Bryk, whom I wish had the personal charisma to match the skill of his hairdresser.
They're joined by his chambermaid lover, "Dove", my favourite character so far. She's just the kind of delicate pretty I'd have been looking for in a fantasy movie when I was a kid and she's also got a bit of the Luke Skywalker syndrome. Writer Jonathan Kasdan (son of Lawrence) tries to write George Lucasian bickering amongst the bunch but it usually feels a little forced, sadly. Not a single joke lands. That includes the lines from a character I'd really like to like, the dangerous rogue accompanying them called Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel).
At the end of the first episode, Willow himself finally shows up, played once again by Warwick Davis.
He's perfect. He feels like the same character after a space of time. His daughter is now played by Davis' real life daughter (there's no explanation so far as to what became of his son and wife), Annabelle Davis, who pours her heart into the role and is great.
Visually, the show is kind of lousy. The lighting and sets look like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, an odd fit in this age of grandiose and intricately designed fantasy series, and certainly not matching the sense of scope conveyed in the 1988 film. It looks like writers of future episodes are drawn from the same stables of incompetence that ruined Obi-Wan Kenobi and She-Hulk. But, alas, I like the characters and story enough so far I'm sticking with it.
Willow is available on Disney+.
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