My rating: 5 out of 10. Willow was a breakthrough fantasy film in the late 1980's, largely for special effects improvements. The story centers around a young "peck" (dwarf) farmer, Willow, who finds a baby on the shore of a river. The baby is prophecied to bring about the downfall of the evil queen and is being hunted by her servants. Willow joins forces with a crazy rebel warrior "Madmartigan" to protect the baby from the Queen's forces.
Willow is a fairy tale disguised as a fantasy. The film attempts to show how a small person (common man) can triumph over evil. Indeed, Howard goes to great lengths to film the "peck" culture at work and play. Ron Howard's devotion to Willow's culture shows how Howard appears to take the film away from the fairy tale and ground the story in three-dimensional characters with actual feelings and lives.
Once we cut away from Willow to the evil queen, or Willow stops being the protagonist (led by Madmartigan or the shape-changing scorcerer), the film's sense of reality falls apart. If this were a true fantasy, grounded in some alternate reality, would Ron Howard coach his actress, "can I get that cackle a little more devilish?". I can only guess that Lucas' script and direction of the project had more to do with this embarrassment. We've seen what Howard can do with a good script.
In the DVD extras, Ron Howard appears to suggest that the film was really George Lucas project, and it shows, as most special effects from Star Wars-Return of the Jedi have been reinserted 5 years later (two-headed monster, scene change style, score, etc.).
Kilmer has flashes of brilliance as crazy rebel Madmartigan. His love interest, Joanne Whalley, is unnecessary to the plot but not unpleasant to look at. These two have considerable chemistry (they were later married) but Lucas doesn't seem to have a reason for bringing them together.
Warwick Davis (Willow), first "noticed" playing an Ewok for Lucas in Return of the Jedi, plays his role with intelligence and passion. He is really the one bright spot in the film.
The Brownies are annoying and do not have any real purpose in the film (a.k.a. Jar Jar Binks).
This film also contains the first use of morphing, a tool used to make images appear to change from one form to another. It was later used in many other films and has led us into the CGI age.
The action leading up to the climax was intense, however the "siege" at the queen's castle and scorcerers duel appeared anticlimactic and used a "God in the Machine" plot device to end the film.
If you want a film with action and some heart, then you will enjoy Willow. If you have a difficut time believing a prophecy that a baby will determine the fate of the world, then this film really isn't your cup of tea. If you are somewhere in the middle, then you are like me and wishing Ron Howard could have had someone other than George Lucas write the script.
Willow is a fairy tale disguised as a fantasy. The film attempts to show how a small person (common man) can triumph over evil. Indeed, Howard goes to great lengths to film the "peck" culture at work and play. Ron Howard's devotion to Willow's culture shows how Howard appears to take the film away from the fairy tale and ground the story in three-dimensional characters with actual feelings and lives.
Once we cut away from Willow to the evil queen, or Willow stops being the protagonist (led by Madmartigan or the shape-changing scorcerer), the film's sense of reality falls apart. If this were a true fantasy, grounded in some alternate reality, would Ron Howard coach his actress, "can I get that cackle a little more devilish?". I can only guess that Lucas' script and direction of the project had more to do with this embarrassment. We've seen what Howard can do with a good script.
In the DVD extras, Ron Howard appears to suggest that the film was really George Lucas project, and it shows, as most special effects from Star Wars-Return of the Jedi have been reinserted 5 years later (two-headed monster, scene change style, score, etc.).
Kilmer has flashes of brilliance as crazy rebel Madmartigan. His love interest, Joanne Whalley, is unnecessary to the plot but not unpleasant to look at. These two have considerable chemistry (they were later married) but Lucas doesn't seem to have a reason for bringing them together.
Warwick Davis (Willow), first "noticed" playing an Ewok for Lucas in Return of the Jedi, plays his role with intelligence and passion. He is really the one bright spot in the film.
The Brownies are annoying and do not have any real purpose in the film (a.k.a. Jar Jar Binks).
This film also contains the first use of morphing, a tool used to make images appear to change from one form to another. It was later used in many other films and has led us into the CGI age.
The action leading up to the climax was intense, however the "siege" at the queen's castle and scorcerers duel appeared anticlimactic and used a "God in the Machine" plot device to end the film.
If you want a film with action and some heart, then you will enjoy Willow. If you have a difficut time believing a prophecy that a baby will determine the fate of the world, then this film really isn't your cup of tea. If you are somewhere in the middle, then you are like me and wishing Ron Howard could have had someone other than George Lucas write the script.
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