‘What happens next?’ are there three more perilous words in the English language when it comes to original ideas.
Take Willow, a perfectly enjoyable fantasy romp released in 1988 starring Warwick Davis about a prophecy, an evil queen, and a magic baby. It was a technical marvel at the time somewhat let down by a shaky plot and questionable writing.
A post-Star Wars George Lucas idea, in other words. At the end, there’s – spoiler alert – a happy ending. Aww. We all moved on with our lives.
Except we can’t anymore. In a never-ending battle to target our nostalgia for even the most mediocre film property, Willow has returned to our television screens to tell us what happens after the happily ever after in this eight-part series. And, of course, it’s another prophecy.
Yes, after poor Willow (Warwick Davis) went through the trouble of saving baby Elora at the end of the movie, she is promptly hidden away by the now-Queen Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) as another threat is prophesised to destroy the kingdom.
We flash forward decades later and that prophecy has finally started to come true and it’s up to Willow to train the unknowing Elora and save the world.
Tonally, the show is a bit of a mess. A place-setting first episode introduces us to mainly new faces – there’s no Val Kilmer, folks, his character Madmartigan written out in a somewhat lazy fashion – and the writers seem to have made the strange decision to make most of them unlikeable and/or boring.
Indeed they are such archetypes that you can basically sum them up in one word each: sullen, horny, loyal, dim, glib, and quiet. Watch the show and it won’t take you long to figure out which is which.
Eventually, thank God, Willow does turn up and the show gets some of its magic back. Is there some acclimatising to seeing the Tenable host fronting a new series on a massive streaming platform? Oh, absolutely.
But Warwick Davis at least infuses the show with a bit of comedy, a bit of lightness to counteract the drab, moody tone that seems to have infected everybody else.
This is the main problem with this incarnation of Willow, it’s oddly dark.
The movie was light and silly and packed full of slapstick humour – as well as overflowing with weird CGI effects that are oddly charming compared to the slick efforts of today.
This Willow has none of that. It’s The Lord of the Rings on about a tenth of the budget and, worse yet, it feels utterly unnecessary.
Ardent fans may be able to stick around – but we’re happy to let fond memories be just that.
Willow is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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