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Willow Movie Review

Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard and starring Warwick Davis in the titular role. It is one of the most dated and forgettable genre flicks from this decade.

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“What are you looking at?

Your leg. I’d like to break it“

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Willow, a farmer, is entrusted with the task of delivering Elora, a princess who is destined to defeat the evil Queen Bavmorda, to the humans to keep her safe. However, he faces a lot of obstacles. This is one of those Tolkien-inspired movies that are too familiar and rehashed in their ideas. None of the plot plot points here were original in any shape or form and that laziness spelled its ultimate doom.

But one thing that personally bothered me even more is the issue of spectacle. The movie was intended to be a VFX fest with an epic nature to it, but they went overboard with the effects and all the action, resulting in a film that is a bore to sit through. Whenever there is a chance for some genuine plot or character development, the filmmakers decided to pursue spectacle instead, leading to a frustrating viewing experience.

The characters are uniformly weak and uninspired. Most are shortchanged in screen time and development altogether. Warwick Davis was perfectly cast as the titular hero and he excelled at playing him. Bavmorda is also a solid sorceress villain. But most of the other characters were way too forgettable. The movie has no heart as it has no memorable or likable personality to attach to, leading to a hollow story.

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Willow features terrific effects for the time. The overall production design, costumes and of course score are superb, especially the music as it was suitably epic at times. The acting performances are also fine and the creature designs were very good. But the movie felt overlong and at no point did I get invested in the story or the characters. In fact, I was bored out of my mind and I found it insufferably dated and campy at times too.