A quick review of Willow (Episode 1 & 2)

Short review

It’s alright, but I hope that it gets better over time.

Longer review

Let me say this first, before I get into it more. I loved the Original Willow movie when I was kid. It came out in 1988 and must have been 8 when I saw it on VHS. I even remember reading the first two books in of a series that came out in 1995.

I don’t want this just to be good.

I want it to be great.

That said, it’s been… a while since I’ve seen was that age. And although I still love the movie and force my family to watch it recently, I have an understanding that this is Disney rebooting a franchise. I am not going to capture that same feeling as when I first saw it.

I’m fine with that, and I’m not screaming to the internet that they ruined my childhood or anything silly like that.

I am grateful that they think it’s worth going back to it.

And to be honest, the original had some problems as well.

But where does that leave us with this show?

Well…

I like it… but it’s got some real flaws that I know that are really going to turn some people off.

First of all, the 54 minute pilot has a big job of introducing our 5 principle characters and getting the audience up to speed.

Most of the main characters in the show on an epic forest set.

At this point in the story, I don’t honestly care too much for a few of them as they haven’t shown enough of why I should care for them apart from they are our protagonists. I feel a couple of them are just saying the lines of sometimes rushed dialog to help us move the plot along and act as exposition. I’m going to hold out hope that they were directed to behave in the way, and that we’ll get a chance to see what they can do with the characters later. Similar to how Chris Hemsworth was able to take Thor from being a stick in the mud to one of my favorite characters in the MCU.

I believe that thing that will keep me watching will be Warwick Davis (Willow), Tony Revolori (Prince Graydon), and Amar Chadha-Patel (Boorman). After the second episode (which is better than the first), I found myself missing them when they weren’t on-screen. Although, Warwick does have some cringeworthy moments, I really get a feeling that he wants this to work and that really shines through. He is the same Willow from the movie, and that what I love.