My Movie Review on Willow · 12:31am Oct 25th, 2021
Greetings and salutations, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the 6th installment of this year's "Spook Spectacular", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Willow".
Here's the rundown of this tale:
Willow Ufgood is a Newlyn dwarf who aspires to be a sorcerer, even if he's a farmer who gets heckled by his fellow villagers here and there.
However, when he and his family discovers a Daikini (human) baby girl that washed up on shore from a river, they decide to take care of it as their own. Just when they thought nothing would go wrong, though, their village is attacked by a monstrous hound-like creature that was apparently looking for the baby. Despite the village's soldiers successfully killing the beast, Willow realizes that he has to take the baby out of the village to ensure the safety of its people.
But, Willow later discovers that the baby is the subject of a prophecy, as well as the princess of a kingdom called Tir Aisleen. The prophecy in question is that she will bring about the downfall of a tyrannical Daikini sorceress called Queen Bavmorda, who rules the kingdom of Nockmaar with an ironfist and is overtaking every other land by the day. As if that wasn't surprising enough, the baby (known as Elora Danan) wants him to be her guardian until he can take her to Tir Aisleen.
With the help of a couple of brownies named Rool and Franjean, a Diakini warrior named Madmartigan, and a sorceress named Fin Raziel, can Willow ensure Elora's safety? Or will Queen Bavmorda conquer the world until everything is destroyed?
Similar to a great many other movies, “Willow” was a film that I had been wanting to review for a long time. It was one out of a select few that I was originally going to analyze in the beginning of my reviewing-career, but I decided to put off doing so due to there being other movies I was interested in checking out.
After thinking about “Willow” more this year, I decided that I wouldn’t put off doing so any longer. I thought it’d be perfect for my “Spook Spectacular” because of the scary moments this movie had.
Coming from a guy who reacquainted himself with the movie recently, I will admit that I didn’t think it was flawless. It’s mainly because there were many moments that were surprisingly cheesy, which made it hard for me to take things seriously at times. In this case, there were some performances that seemed exaggerated and pieces of dialogue that sounded unnatural.
“Willow” is also another film from the 80s that I’m surprised wasn’t rated PG-13 instead of PG. The reasons for why are that there are scenes in the film that are too intense or scary for the little ones. But, this is a nitpick I blame squarely on the MPAA rating system for, not the film. I’m surprised that they never decided to re-rate the film PG-13, really.
Other than those elements, though…I really must say that “Willow” was as enjoyable as I remembered it being!
For instance, despite some performances not being the greatest ever seen, many of the cast members still pushed themselves to the best of their abilities and gave terrific portrayals in the process. The characters themselves certainly weren't without personality and development either. The best of the performances came from Warwick Davis as Willow, Val Kilmer as Madmartigan, Joanne Whalley as Sorsha, and Jean Marsh as Queen Bavmorda. The four aforementioned characters in particular were also the ones who developed the most throughout the movie. In addition to this, Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton stole the show in their portrayals of Rool and Franjean, and the two characters managed to be funny no matter what.
The direction by Ron Howard, the story by George Lucas (who is also executive producer), and the screenplay by Bob Dolman, were wonderful too.
Like I already said, I didn't think that the dialogue aspect was 100% exquisite. But, there are a great many quotes and lines that were undeniably creative.
What really stands out to me about the filmmakers' work on this movie is that they came up with a concept that was original for a fantasy film. I loved that instead of it being about a quest for a lost artifact or some other kind of plot that was already done before in the genre, the film is about the hero risking his life to protect another's! Ensuring their safety even when the odds are stacked against him. Willow's mission to protect Elora from Queen Bavmorda made him a protagonist to instantly root for, as well as be someone that people would want to see be successful. The presence of Elora also gives a great reminder that life is a valuable and precious gift that should never be taken for granted, and I constantly hoped that she'd be safe. The story tied itself together beautifully, if I may add.
Along with that, the movie had witty and humorous moments that were undeniably entertaining, and the best part was that I couldn't resist laughing. There was an emotional resonance and heart in the film too, which came in the form of the developing friendships between the heroes and the growing romance between Madmartigan and Sorsha.
Finally, the music by James Horner was magnificent.
Throughout the movie, I noted how much Horner's melodies reflected the emotions of the characters, the tone of the story, and the setting and world of the film. What helps Horner's score stand tall, though, is that the music sounded like it all came from his heart and creative passion, and that's a reason for why he's one of my favorite composers. A prime example comes from the music that was played during the celebration at the Newlyn dwarf village, because the melodies played during that scene reflected the joy of the villagers and the activity going on there.
In conclusion, "Willow" does have its flaws. But, it's fun and enrapturing every step of the way, and it shows that LucasFilm can do so much more than make movies or shows that are only based on Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
So, I rate "Willow 4½ out of 5 stars.
Willow is one of my all time favorite movies.
Thanks to your review, I'm definitely checking this film out.
Now here’s a film I love but haven’t thought about for a while.
My dad initially wanted to name one of his kids after his favorite character from the movie: Aerk.
I loved Willow. It brought special effects that were new at the time, such as the morphing effects. Jim Henson's creature shop designed a whole bunch of new puppets and animatronics.
Fun fact: Originally Willow was meant to be The Hobbit, but the rights couldn't be secured, so the script was massively rewritten.