Willow is a curious fantasy franchise; George Lucas' film from the '80's was a compote of the good, the bad and the ugly, and not particularly original. I was young when it was released, and I mostly loved it at the time. The rose-tinted specs haven't stood the test of time. Despite that, I retain fond memories, and awaited the TV series with mixed feelings.
The TV series begins a generation after the end of the film, with only Willow himself (Warwick Davis) and Sorscha (Joanne Whalley). The film took itself moderately seriously, with comic relief in the form of Madmartigan the sword-wielding hero, and Willow's inept use of magic. The TV series, however, is playing it for fun from the outset, with pretty much all the new characters wisecracking their way through the dialogue. This formula took some time to bed in - I was a good 30 min into the first episode before I started to lose the feeling I was going to hate it. Either I just needed an adjustment period, or the material got better, or probably a combination of the two, but by the time it ended I was thinking "Okay, I can actually contemplate more". By episode 3 I was hooked.
One of the puzzling things about this show is the random allocation of accents. Most of the adult characters are British (which in the case of Sorscha and Willow that's how it has to be be, in continuity with the film), but most of the young characters have American accents, even children of the British-accented characters. Perhaps a conscious choice of casting, or even a generation-separating trait, except the 'serious one' of the youngsters has a British accent, while Elora Dannon (grown up now, obviously) is played with an American accent by an English actress (Ellie Bamber). All a bit of a mishmash, much like the show. Somehow, though, the disparate elements of the production come together to make an unlikely adventure which mostly works.
The dialogue, which I found mostly intensely irritating in the first episode, seems to have settled into a groove where most of the jokes land quite well. The humorous characters are well cast, and the actors know what to do with the material, although I must admit that the original actors who survived from the film seem a little lost with the material in the TV series. Warwick Davis at times appears to be phoning in his delivery off an autocue, it's so wooden, but it wouldn't be Willow without him. In truth, I'm not convinced his acting has ever been great.
The pacing is bang on, the villains are interesting and suitably dangerous, and the digital effects are a cut above most of what was dealt out in the film. I know it was the '80's, but really... All in all, four episodes in, I quite like what I'm getting, and could hope for more in the future.
The TV series begins a generation after the end of the film, with only Willow himself (Warwick Davis) and Sorscha (Joanne Whalley). The film took itself moderately seriously, with comic relief in the form of Madmartigan the sword-wielding hero, and Willow's inept use of magic. The TV series, however, is playing it for fun from the outset, with pretty much all the new characters wisecracking their way through the dialogue. This formula took some time to bed in - I was a good 30 min into the first episode before I started to lose the feeling I was going to hate it. Either I just needed an adjustment period, or the material got better, or probably a combination of the two, but by the time it ended I was thinking "Okay, I can actually contemplate more". By episode 3 I was hooked.
One of the puzzling things about this show is the random allocation of accents. Most of the adult characters are British (which in the case of Sorscha and Willow that's how it has to be be, in continuity with the film), but most of the young characters have American accents, even children of the British-accented characters. Perhaps a conscious choice of casting, or even a generation-separating trait, except the 'serious one' of the youngsters has a British accent, while Elora Dannon (grown up now, obviously) is played with an American accent by an English actress (Ellie Bamber). All a bit of a mishmash, much like the show. Somehow, though, the disparate elements of the production come together to make an unlikely adventure which mostly works.
The dialogue, which I found mostly intensely irritating in the first episode, seems to have settled into a groove where most of the jokes land quite well. The humorous characters are well cast, and the actors know what to do with the material, although I must admit that the original actors who survived from the film seem a little lost with the material in the TV series. Warwick Davis at times appears to be phoning in his delivery off an autocue, it's so wooden, but it wouldn't be Willow without him. In truth, I'm not convinced his acting has ever been great.
The pacing is bang on, the villains are interesting and suitably dangerous, and the digital effects are a cut above most of what was dealt out in the film. I know it was the '80's, but really... All in all, four episodes in, I quite like what I'm getting, and could hope for more in the future.
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