Willow Season 1 Review: The Return of Magic, Between Past and Present on Disney+
Cast: Warwick Davis, Ellie Bamber, Erin Kellyman, Ruby Cruz, Tony Revolori, Amar Chadha-Patel, Dempsey Bryk
Creator: Jonathan Kasdan
Streaming Platform: Disney+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Willow season 1 finally arrives at Disney+ and here is our review. The 80s, what a magical and spectacular decade of American cinema. Testosterone-pumped adrenaline-pumping blockbusters, space sci-fi, and fantasy defined the collective imagination. It is precisely in the latter circle that Willow, the cult film directed by Ron Howard for Lucasfilm, falls. Preceded by films such as Labirinth, The NeverEnding Story and Conan the Barbarian, the film was negatively received upon its release in theaters. The outdoor shots and all the technology available to the manufacturer in those years were useless. Public and critics decreed the failure of that prototype that was Willow. Why, George Lucas’s idea was to create a fantasy saga, like Star Wars was for science fiction. Unfortunately, nothing more came of it, but over time, the film has acquired a certain mystical aura, gradually becoming a small cult.
There is the galaxy far far away. There is a friendly archaeologist hunting for mystical objects. But in the history of Lucasfilm, there is also a film that hasn’t had the same success as the two franchises just mentioned, but over the years it has become a cult phenomenon and now, thanks to Disney+, it has the chance to return to the screens in a new look. We will tell you about this in our review of Willow – The series.
Willow Season 1 Review: The Story
Years have passed since the defeat of the evil queen Mavmorda by her daughter Sorsha, Madmartigan the young wizard Willow and little Elora Danan. The kingdoms now experience days of peace and prosperity, although outside their borders evil has continued to persist. Mavmorda’s followers have gathered once again, ready to unleash hell upon the wizarding world. Sorsha is now queen and mother of twins, Kit and Airk. It will be the kidnapping of Airk to set in motion the events of the story. A mismatched group of young people will set off in search of the prince, but not before asking for help from Willow, now the high Aldwin and powerful sorcerer. In the group, we find Princess Kit, the friend and warrior Jade, the powerful Boorman, the cook Dove in love with Airk and the betrothed of the princess, Graydon; as well as Willow herself.
Old and new guards team up on a rescue mission that soon turns into a quest to save the world again. During the first three episodes we find the iconic faces of the film, with visual and non-visual references to the story of thirty-five years ago. There is an air of magic at every step, it permeates every leaf and brick. And what about Warwick Davis, that smile would fill anyone’s heart. The actor hasn’t lost his polish and manages to convey all the freshness and tenderness of his character at all times. Willow transmits goodness and courage because even the smallest creature can make a difference. A phrase that we fish out of The Lord of the Rings for one reason: the film was a light-hearted pop version of it. Tolkien’s imagery was extrapolated by Lucas to create something new, but whose structure we still recognized.
The series is no different, as it follows some Tolkienian stylistic elements and messages. The company, the journey, the power of friendship and the scars that life can leave. The epic and the pathos are missing, that’s for sure, but we’re only in the first season, and it doesn’t mean that in the future this drift can’t be taken anyway. As in Lord of the Rings, the enemy wants to regain shape and power, while he sends his acolytes forward as on a chessboard. However, the world that the protagonists will discover will be vast and full of creatures, races and peoples. Willow’s is a multiracial story, in which the public is educated to appreciate the beauty of diversity and above all not to judge a book by its cover.
Willow Season 1 Review and Analysis
Of course, Warwick Davis returns, star of the original film and for several years one of Lucasfilm’s fetish actors (he appeared in one film each of the first two Star Wars trilogies, and then in all of the franchise’s feature films from 2015 onwards). Joining her is a young main cast of Ellie Bamber, Erin Kellyman, Ruby Cruz, Tony Revolori and Dempsey Bryk, the latter as the prince the others must save. Rounding out the group is Amar Chadha-Patel as Boorman, a thief who has been offered his freedom in exchange for his participation. As occasional appearances, other faces of the film return: Joanne Whalley (Queen Sorsha) and Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton (the leprechauns Rool and Franjean). Christian Slater is Allagash, a friend of Madmartigan, with the latter present – for now – only through allusions, given that for well-known health reasons Val Kilmer could not travel to Wales for filming during the pandemic.
Willow’s has always been the universe to be considered the “black sheep” within the Lucasfilm family, given that the film did not achieve the desired success at the time and, despite modest home video sales in the following years, it was not enough the enthusiasm of Warwick Davis or director Ron Howard to convince the upper levels to give a second chance to the fantasy world populated by spells and great adventures. Then, in 2017, during the filming of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan – a fan of the first hour and member of the Lucasian family as the son of Lawrence Kasdan – separately convinced first Davis and then Howard to plead the case for a serial continuation, taking advantage of the already announced launch of the Disney+ platform (with the annexed opportunity to introduce the original feature film to a new generation of viewers). A continuation of the difficult production process, between behind-the-scenes handovers – John M. Chu, who was supposed to sign the first episodes, gave up for personal reasons – and the complications related to the pandemic, including the participation of Val Kilmer.
The show falls perfectly in the tradition of the “legacyquel”, to the point of being partially structured as the third Star Wars trilogy: the evil that returns, a young promise to train, the heroes of the past who either are not there or they have become more cynical over time. The fan service component is just a little less present, perhaps the result of the fact that, compared to a certain galaxy that arrived on the screen in 1977, Willow and company have never been the idols of the crowds and consequently there is no need to remind the general public why they like this story.
This is why the tone of the show is a bit strange which, like the trilogy by Abrams and Rian Johnson, treats the source material as a sort of sacred object and not the child-sized adventure that Lucas had conceived at the time (and, precisely as in Episode VIII, there are moments where it tries to reassess what the viewer should expect from these characters). There was a certain naive charm in the 1988 prototype which, despite the wise decision to shoot on location without using too much CGI to create the environments, here gave way to a more serious operation which, however, cannot fully compensate for the ‘absence of real creative flashes that would partially hide the narrative structure at times too schematic.
Willow Season 1 Review: The Last Words
The tradition of the “legacyquel” continues with the return of Willow – The series, engaging but also a little deranged in its attempt to give serious complexity to a very simple and naïve story. The chivalric magic of the 80s returns to the small screen, bringing with it a breath of fresh and multiracial air. The cast works and the protagonist once again leverages our feelings. We confirm it once again, you have to go beyond the first two episodes to fully enjoy the series, which from the third onwards presses the accelerator and offers excellent moments. Willow sifts through with more than enough, with that more encouragement for the seasons to come.
