Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

When the author of this review has read Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for the first time, he began to wonder what would live action film adaptation of that book would look like. Until Peter Jackson made his famous trilogy, the closest thing to the answer to my question was Willow, 1988 fantasy epic directed by Ron Howard.

The plot begins after the birth of a child prophesied to end the rule of evil queen Bamorda of Nockmaar (played by Jean Marsh). In order to prevent the prophecy from coming true, Bamorda ordered all pregnant women in her realm imprisoned, but the baby named Elora Danan is smuggled out of dungeon and brought to village of Nelwyn, dwarfish people. Baby is found by children of Nelwyn farmer, amateur magician and aspiring sorcerer Willow Ufgood (played by Warwick Davis). Following attack of Bamorda’s hound on village, Willow is ordered to bring Elora Danan to the land of “Daikini” a.k.a. humans. Along the way he stumbles on Madmartigan (played by Val Kilmer), rogue mercenary imprisoned in gibbet, who offers to take care of baby in exchange for being set free. Willow agrees but later gets imprisoned by fairy-like brownies whose queen Cherlindrea (played by Maria Hölvoe) explains that he must find Fin Raziel (played by Patricia Hayes), old enchantress who had been turned into possum by Bamorda’s spell; if she is brought back to human form, she would help protect Elora Danan. Willow is rejoined by Madmartigan and their party is pursued by Bamorda’s daughter Shorsha (played by Joanne Whalley) and general Kael (played by Pat Roach).

Willow was produced by George Lucas with clear intention to do for high fantasy what Star Wars had done for science fiction genre. The attempt to start new franchise, however, failed; box office results were more than decent, but below high expections. Critics were less than kind than the audience, often accusing Lucas for lack of originality and trying to mechanically bring basic plot and archetypal characters of Star Wars into fantasy setting. While some of critics’ hostility can be explained by Lucas having some of the villains and monsters named by the most influential film reviewers of his times (General Kael being named after Pauline Kael; while monstrous two-headed Eborsisk being named after Siskel and Ebert), some of those complaints are valid. Script by Bob Dolman indeed gives away huge influence of Star Wars, with character of initially reluctant protagonist being modelled on Luke Skywalker; his main helper is modelled after Han Solo; character of cynical princess Shorsha is modelled after Leia. Dolman’s script, on the other hand, also gets inspiration from other sources, which include Bible and, of course, Tolkien’s novels, with Nelwyns and their village being obviously modelled after Hobbits. Dolman’s script, on the other hand, relies on archetypes too much at the expense on original world-building; the viewers learn very little on background of Bamorda, Madmartigan, Shorsha and other characters. The romantic subplot featuring Bamorda and Shorsha isn’t particularly convincing, despite Kilmer and Whalley having chemistry and becoming couple in real life. Same can be said for brownie characters, played by Kevin Pollack and Rick Overton, which are obviously written as comic relief, but add little to film except being annoying.

On the other hand, Willow is very good film on strictly technical level. Ron Howard, an actor turned director, has already proven himself by handling big budget fantasy and science films. He directs Willow with great skill, making perfect balance between action, horror, romance and comedy, while (at least for the most part) making the film family-friendly. He is aided by cinematographer Adrien Biddle who puts British and New Zealand locations to good use. That work is complemented by elaborate special effects by Lucas’ studio Industrial Light & Magic, which also featured one of the first uses of computer graphic to for morphing images. Willow also features very good cast. Warwick Davis, young dwarfish actor, who is for the most of his career been condemned to “exotic” character roles, tries his best to use rare opportunity to actually star in the film; he easily charms the audience and works as a protagonist much better than Val Kilmer who, despite his charisma, can’t overcome his character being underwritten. Joanne Whalley is good in thankless role, while veteran Jean Marsh is stuck in cliché of uber-villainess. Patricia Hayes fares better because of semi-humorous approach of screenwriter who forced her character to go through bizarre image transformations. But the most memorable and the most successful element of Willow is music, composed by James Horner at the peak of his career. His work on this film elevates film over mere watchability and represents one of the most recognisable and effective pieces of his filmography. Although it looks predictably inferior to Jackson’s trilogy and fantasy epics that followed, Willow is still very good genre piece that could be recommended to the audience today.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)