Willow Movie Review

Willow (1988)

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Written by: George Lucas (story by), Bob Dolman (screenplay by)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis, Kevin Pollak
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
A young farmer is chosen to undertake a perilous journey in order to protect a special baby from an evil queen.

Verdict
It's fun fantasy movie that leans into quite a few tropes. At least in this movie, the issue is that the chosen one is too young too defend herself from the lurking evil. Instead inexperienced Willow must attempt to save the realm through force of will. The story takes a few shortcuts, but the special effects are notable for the time. I like this movie out of nostalgia more than anything else.
Skip it.

Review
I haven't seen this since I was a kid. After watching the rebooted series, I had to watch the original. I saw this movie many times as a kid, mainly due to a lack in choices from the fantasy genre. We only had so many tapes in my house.

This borrows a few ideas, but remains focused on saving the child. Willow (Warwick Davis) embarks on a mission to save the baby that inadvertently appears in his possession. Willow is soon abandoned by his friends who want no part in this adventure. Like many heroes, Willow is the outlier, unappreciated. This sets him up as likely to fail.

Warwick Davis plays Willow

It's an energetic adventure as Willow gives up the baby, but discovers her yet again and begins his quest anew. He and his friends keeping running into trouble. Willow is compelled to complete this task. It's not just because the plot demands it, but because Willow wants to prove himself. This is his chance. I do wonder why Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) embarks on this quest. He's a fun character, but not written as someone that would be so selfless. The first few times we see him he's a trickster. There's no reason he would help Willow unless he benefitted. It really seems like he's a Han Solo type character which makes sense as George Lucas wrote this.

Val Kilmer, Warwick Davis play Madmartigan, Willow

There's a lot of will timed help like the fairy that tells Willow where to go and who to see. Without that visit, this movie would have been over. I also wonder how Willow learned incantations. Maybe it happened off screen. One of the villains switching sides for no good reason is also quite the stretch. This has interesting characters with Madmartigan and Willow, but it's too much of a fairy tale as it embraces many common tropes.

I like that the chosen one is too young to have any impact on the plot other than being a device for the story. The hero is a character that's not even well regarded in his own village. This is his chance to have an adventure and prove himself. I like that he's completely outmatched at the end. He uses tricks that failed when we last saw them, but now it's his only hope. He returns home a hero, though the village wouldn't know what he's done. Maybe they're just surprised he returned alive.