The New ‘Willow’ Sequence Is A Tremendous-Enjoyable Fantasy Throwback

Lucasfilm

A Willow TV collection didn’t must occur. Of all of the IP-driven sequels and spin-offs the Disney+ machine has spit out within the three years for the reason that streaming service debuted, Willow is among the many most extraneous on paper. The Warwick Davis-led 1988 fantasy saga that impressed the collection by no means reached the heights of different Lucasfilm initiatives, and on the time, it didn’t launch the franchise its creators absolutely hoped for. So why return to the middlingly well-liked story many years later? Effectively, after seeing seven episodes of the present’s extraordinarily entertaining first season, I believe the query ought to truly be: why the hell not?

It seems, Willow the collection is an entire lot of enjoyable. A powerful hybrid of contemporary visuals, sensible results, and reversion swashbuckling adventures, it hits a pleasant, largely lighthearted candy spot that only a few fantasy reveals do nowadays. The collection has an overarching plot, nevertheless it’s extra episodic than one may count on, and its self-contained storylines are the stuff that nice comedy-genre reveals are manufactured from. Every week, a dynamic, flirty forged of characters will get caught going through obstacles like haunted homes, reality serums, and riddle-spouting foes. The present’s infectiously enjoyable power owes as a lot to ‘90s classics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Mummy because it does to the movie that offers it its identify.

Willow does proceed a storyline followers will likely be acquainted with, although, because the child who was prophesied to alter the world, Elora Danan, is all grown up and reunited with the sorcerer Willow Ufgood (Davis). Davis performs his character with a way of each knowledge and mischief and carries the present’s extra severe beats effectively. He’s additionally surrounded by a stellar forged of children – would-be heroes and rapscallions who’re thirsty for data, life expertise, and one another.

Princess Package (Ruby Cruz) and future knight Jade (Erin Kellyman) are greatest associates whose relationship is put to the check when Package’s himbo brother Airk (Dempsey Bryk), goes lacking. The pair quickly take to the highway on a journey to seek out him and are joined by Airk’s lover Dove (Ellie Bamber), Package’s betrothed Graydon (Tony Revolori), and an enthralling, roguish thief named Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel). Along with Willow, the group finally ends up entangled in a mission that entails the way forward for the realm itself. However the present isn’t afraid to allow them to get sidetracked, and the forged has sufficient chemistry to make any variety of semi-random quests entertaining.

Forward of the present’s launch, followers have fretted concerning the Val Kilmer-shaped gap within the forged and what it’d imply for the collection. But Willow doesn’t endure an excessive amount of with out Madmartigan and rapidly finds its personal distinct voice. Stated voice is goofy as usually because it’s severe, and Willow is kind of humorous in an offbeat manner that matches the tone of the unique movie. When Boorman tells a tall story, the digital camera focuses on him as if he’s a heartthrob motion hero, taking part in out his model of occasions with a straight face even if they clearly didn’t truly go down that manner. Willow, in the meantime, is as more likely to berate his apprentices with foolish asides (“don’t say ‘groin’ in blended firm!” he barks at one level) as he’s to provide them magic classes.

If Willow has a disadvantage, it’s that the collection has clearly been to the Joss Whedon faculty of quippiness, and viewers’ mileage might differ in terms of its kooky, typically anachronistic one-liners. But any floor it loses with its cornier script parts, Willow makes up for with surprisingly well-written romance plots. The present doesn’t take its younger heroes’ love lives too critically, nevertheless it is aware of that they do (as a result of they’re star-crossed teenagers, duh), and it options a number of compelling plots about past love, rekindled love, and love that blooms unexpectedly. The collection additionally grounds its emotional and upbeat moments alike with a incredible, cover-heavy soundtrack; almost each episode ends with a needle drop that I didn’t know I wanted till it arrived.

All in all, Willow appears like a nearly-extinct kind of story: a largely family-friendly journey saga that isn’t afraid to incorporate humor and hazard that appeals to adults, too. I didn’t understand that I’d gone years with out watching a collection that options cheeky double-entendres, huge hero moments, kiddish humor, and swooning romance all of sudden till Willow packed all of it into one watchable bundle. The present has an intelligence and emotional sophistication that can problem and intrigue youthful viewers, but it additionally appeals to the kid in all of us with throwback gags and nostalgic sensible results. In a world that’s teeming with self-serious fantasy reveals, this one might take some getting used to, nevertheless it’s completely value hanging in there by the adjustment interval. This sequel might not have been strictly obligatory, nevertheless it’s a rollicking good time.

Willow begins streaming on Disney+ on November 30, 2022. Watch the collection trailer right here.

Associated Subjects: Disney

Valerie Ettenhofer is a Los Angeles-based freelance author, TV-lover, and mac and cheese fanatic. As a Senior Contributor at Movie College Rejects, she covers tv by common evaluations and her recurring column, Episodes. She can also be a voting member of the Critics Alternative Affiliation’s tv and documentary branches. Twitter: @aandeandval (She/her)