Mandaris

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.

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.

I’m someone who says a lot of things about self improvement. And I have to say that I’m a much better person now than where I was 10 and 20 years ago.

This doesn’t mean that I’ve hit all my goals but it does feel good to know that I have made progress.

Unfortunately, it feels like a lot of the things that were promised as the American dream are just outside of reach. That I’ve squandered a lot of the opportunity that was in front of me. I hurt myself with the word “should”. I “should” have a house. That house “should” be big and go with my luxury car. I “should” have an astounding career. I “should” be in great shape. “Should”, “should”, “should”.

The expectations hurt.

I’m reminded that I shouldn’t “should” on myself.

It “could” be worse.

I am grateful for the things that I do have in my life both material and not.

The ability to simply take this time to write this and see my thoughts is comforting in that I know that when the future me sees this…

Well, I don’t know.

But I do know that I will be kind and understanding that the present me was doing the best that I could.