Review of Willow (1988) by Dino B — 19 Dec 2010
So cool and so much bigger than I remembered. It's amazing how well they used to be able to do this kind of thing back in the day and how difficult they find it now.
Things are mostly kept sweet and simple with a nice solid central thrust that the audience can sink their teeth into. No need to make things overly complicated just to fool everyone into thinking that your story is richer than it is. The true joy of this kind of thing is in the journeys taken and the lessons learned.
But never mind that all that. Action and adventure is the real reason you buy the ticket and this one delivers in spades. There's even a wizard battle in the climax which had to have been an inspiration for Gandalf vs. Saruman in Fellowship.
The two headed dragon type thingy, brought to life with fantastic old school optical effect. Val pulling off the perfect rakish hero. A full on epic swords slashing castle assult for the climax and all with Warwick Davis front and center showing off his giant hands.
You couldn't ask for more than that.
The whole time I was watching it I had Prince of Persia in my mind as they are both going for the exact same thing - and just how much that one didn't get it. Like the bickering love/hate relationship at the center. No chemistry and no fun. The same thing is seen here, only with less time to develope, but somehow it ends up being ten times more fun and infinately more believable.
This review of Willow (1988) was written by Dino B on 19 Dec 2010.
Willow has generally received positive reviews.
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