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Willow - First episode
Sixteen years after the evil Queen Bavmorda was defeated in Willow, Tir Asleen's realm is once again in danger. An ancient evil rises and threatens to kill the future Empress.
In 1988 I was in the cinema and I enjoyed watching Willow. Ron Howard had just made his name as a director with Cocoon and Splash. In Willow, the leading roles were played by well-known actors such as Val Kilmer, Jean Marsh, and Warwick Davies. The story was written by George Lucas. That could have been a box office success.
In reality, the film was received with mixed feelings by critics. George Lucas's screenplay in particular was heavily criticized. The story borrowed heavily from Tolkien and other Fantasy greats and seemed unable to choose between adult thrills and family humor.
The film did better with the public, but it was not a financial cinema success. Nevertheless, the film retained a large number of fans, partly due to the video stores. The film was mainly saved by the excellent actors and the humor.
Characteristic for George Lucas, according to him, there were immediate plans to make sequels and a series. However, those plans were shelved for decades, until Disney felt the time was right to make them work.
Et voilà, in 2022 we will finally see new adventures from Willow Ulfgood. To understand the series properly, it helps if you have seen the film, because the series relies heavily on the events of 34 years ago.
In the first episode, the warrior queen Sorsha is revealed to have married rugged hero Madmartigan. They have two children, daughter Kit and son Airk. Kit is about to marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Princess Kit has absolutely no appetite for that and the groom also has his interests elsewhere.
Life at court bores the princess immensely and she wants to go out into the wide world, with her loyal bodyguard Jade on an adventure. She gets the chance when the castle is raided by a powerful black magician and his dark helpers. To find out the intentions of this wizard, a group of brave warriors is gathered. The quest begins with the search for the last mage: Willow Ulfgood. Then they will have to travel beyond the borders of the known world.
I was very curious about the new version of Willow. In 1988 I saw the film in the cinema and even after that I regularly pushed the video tape and later DVD into the player. As so often, I was concerned that the already fragile magic of the movie wouldn't hold up in the TV series.
The current generation of actors has the thankless task of reviving a cult film like Willow on the small screen. That has always been a big challenge. The old generation of fans will always compare a new rendition to the beloved original. And new viewers probably don't know the old movie. So they have no familiarity at all with names like Willow, Madmartigan, and Queen Bavmorda.
Furthermore, I fear that a series with Warwick Davies (Willow, Jonathan Creek) in a leading role will always suffer. Warwick has my sympathy, but as an actor I've always found him rather wooden and limited. I hope, of course, that the series as a whole will make you forget its lesser issues.
The first part will be fun enough for new viewers to want to see the rest as well. I had some trouble with it myself. The cliché content was quite high and of course, the world has to be saved again by wayward teenagers.
Speaking of saving: it seems that humor is this series' saving grace. Especially Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel, The Wheel of Time) does well as the experienced fighter with his own style. I also found Kit (Ruby Cruz, Mare of Easttown) and Dove (Ellie Bamber, The Serpent) to act very natural at times.
We'll see what the rest of the first season brings. For now, I can't go higher than a meager 7, thanks to Thraxus and the beautiful decors and environments.
Follow WillowIn 1988 I was in the cinema and I enjoyed watching Willow. Ron Howard had just made his name as a director with Cocoon and Splash. In Willow, the leading roles were played by well-known actors such as Val Kilmer, Jean Marsh, and Warwick Davies. The story was written by George Lucas. That could have been a box office success.
In reality, the film was received with mixed feelings by critics. George Lucas's screenplay in particular was heavily criticized. The story borrowed heavily from Tolkien and other Fantasy greats and seemed unable to choose between adult thrills and family humor.
The film did better with the public, but it was not a financial cinema success. Nevertheless, the film retained a large number of fans, partly due to the video stores. The film was mainly saved by the excellent actors and the humor.
Characteristic for George Lucas, according to him, there were immediate plans to make sequels and a series. However, those plans were shelved for decades, until Disney felt the time was right to make them work.
Et voilà, in 2022 we will finally see new adventures from Willow Ulfgood. To understand the series properly, it helps if you have seen the film, because the series relies heavily on the events of 34 years ago.
In the first episode, the warrior queen Sorsha is revealed to have married rugged hero Madmartigan. They have two children, daughter Kit and son Airk. Kit is about to marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Princess Kit has absolutely no appetite for that and the groom also has his interests elsewhere.
Life at court bores the princess immensely and she wants to go out into the wide world, with her loyal bodyguard Jade on an adventure. She gets the chance when the castle is raided by a powerful black magician and his dark helpers. To find out the intentions of this wizard, a group of brave warriors is gathered. The quest begins with the search for the last mage: Willow Ulfgood. Then they will have to travel beyond the borders of the known world.
© Disney+
I was very curious about the new version of Willow. In 1988 I saw the film in the cinema and even after that I regularly pushed the video tape and later DVD into the player. As so often, I was concerned that the already fragile magic of the movie wouldn't hold up in the TV series.
The current generation of actors has the thankless task of reviving a cult film like Willow on the small screen. That has always been a big challenge. The old generation of fans will always compare a new rendition to the beloved original. And new viewers probably don't know the old movie. So they have no familiarity at all with names like Willow, Madmartigan, and Queen Bavmorda.
Furthermore, I fear that a series with Warwick Davies (Willow, Jonathan Creek) in a leading role will always suffer. Warwick has my sympathy, but as an actor I've always found him rather wooden and limited. I hope, of course, that the series as a whole will make you forget its lesser issues.
The first part will be fun enough for new viewers to want to see the rest as well. I had some trouble with it myself. The cliché content was quite high and of course, the world has to be saved again by wayward teenagers.
Speaking of saving: it seems that humor is this series' saving grace. Especially Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel, The Wheel of Time) does well as the experienced fighter with his own style. I also found Kit (Ruby Cruz, Mare of Easttown) and Dove (Ellie Bamber, The Serpent) to act very natural at times.
We'll see what the rest of the first season brings. For now, I can't go higher than a meager 7, thanks to Thraxus and the beautiful decors and environments.
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