Review of Willow (1988) by Paul D — 11 Sep 2016

A prophecy states that a female child with a special birthmark will herald the downfall of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). Bavmorda imprisons all pregnant women in her realm to prevent fulfilment of the prophecy. When the prophesied child is born, the mother begs the midwife to take her to safety. The midwife reluctantly accepts and leaves Nockmaar castle unnoticed. The mother is executed and the midwife is eventually found. Knowing she cannot escape, she sets the baby on a makeshift raft of grass and sends her down the river hoping for fate to run its course. The midwife is then killed by Nockmaar hounds. Bavmorda sends her daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and General Kael to find the baby. The baby drifts downriver to a Nelwyn village. She comes into the care of Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), a kind farmer and conjurer who hopes to become a sorcerer; his wife Kiaya and his children fall in love with the baby immediately, and Willow too soon grows to love her as one of his own. During a town festival the village is attacked by a Nockmaar hound which is quickly killed by the village warriors. The High Aldwin, the village sorcerer, learns about the baby and selects Willow, due to his devotion to the child, to accompany a party of volunteers returning the baby to the Daikini (human) people. At a crossroads, they find a human warrior named Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) trapped in a crow's cage. The rest of the party want to give the baby to Madmartigan and go home immediately, but Willow and his friend Meegosh refuse, so the others leave. After spending the night at the crossroads, and meeting an army led by Airk Thaughbaer, an old friend of Madmartigan's, marching against Bavmorda, Willow reluctantly decides to free Madmartigan so that he can take care of the baby for them. Later on, the baby is stolen by a group of brownies. While chasing them, Willow and Meegosh are trapped, but rescued by Cherlindrea, a Fairy Queen, who identifies the baby as Elora Danan, the future princess of Tir Asleen and Bavmorda's bane, and assigns Willow the task of helping the baby fulfil her destiny...

Janet Maslin from The New York Times praised Lucas' storytelling, but was critical of Ron Howard's direction. "Howard appears to have had his hands full in simply harnessing the special effects," Maslin said. Desson Thomson writing in The Washington Post, explained "Rob Reiner's similar fairytale adventure The Princess Bride (which the cinematographer Adrian Biddle also shot) managed to evoke volumes more without razzle-dazzle. It's a sad thing to be faulting Lucas, maker of the Star Wars trilogy and Raiders of the Lost Ark, for forgetting the tricks of entertainment." Mike Clark in USA Today wrote that "the rainstorm wrap-up, in which Good edges Evil is like Led Zeppelin Meets The Wild Bunch. The film is probably too much for young children and possibly too much of the same for cynics. But any 6-13-year-old who sees this may be bitten by the "movie bug" for life." I haven´t seen "Willow" for years and decided it was time to re-watch it. It´s quite obvious that "Willow" is modeled on Tolkien´s "Lord of the Rings" trilogy as there´s many similar touching points in the storyline. It most likely appeals to 10-13 year olds and back in 1988 I reckon this fantasty adventure got its audience for sure. This being a Ron Howard movie, we get something conventional and unsurprising. I personally think that Howard has created too many long scenes that really creates a stretch in the story instead of creating dynamics. The films action set pieces are generally solid, while the special effects are not so solid. The special effects is a big minus in the film in my point of view. Then again in 1988 I did most likely have a different opinion. Unfortunately, director Ron Howard and executive producer George Lucas also seems to have put too much focus on the visual effects and practical issues while the direction and character development suffers from less focus throughout the movie. Most actors give as well an uneven and inconsistent performance. It was however nice to re-see Val Kilmer in his heyday and the same for the oh so lovely Joanne Whalley. "Willow" has its entertaining moments, but there´s too much that is unsatisfying for yours truly to feel that this is still special in 2016.