Willow

The final product is something that stands as well on its own as it does as a continuation of Ron Howard’s classic film.

We finally have a sequel that continues the Willow saga with the heart and soul the story deserves. Disney+‘s new series Willow is a raggedy, hilarious, and absolutely enchanting continuation of the Lucasfilm cult classic. Instead of wallowing in “grimdark” imagery or losing itself tripping over unnecessary mystery boxes, Willow embraces the joy of its source material. Willow is a tour de force of fun and fantasy frivolity.

The series goes to more, and more interesting, places, with fuller characterizations, less predictable plot lines and sharper jokes. The movie was vaguely humorous, but the series is legitimately a comedy between, and often during, the scenes of suspense and violence. ... Everyone pulls their weight. Sequels are often a matter of diminishing returns, but “Willow” pays dividends.

I still wish that "Willow" were as consistently electric from the start as it eventually becomes from the third episode onward. Then again, if "Willow" takes a couple of episodes to find its greatness, perhaps the story's spirit dictates that is as it should be.

The performances are the chief strengths of “Willow,” which certainly wallows in genre conventions (as the unkindest critics of the film pointed out) and relies on a forceful execution to elevate it beyond fantasy-by-numbers. Davis is naturally terrific.

Roguish and ribald, this fantasy never forgets it’s supposed to be fun.

This is an unapologetically traditional fantasy, with no pretentions to Game Of Thrones-style grimness or Lord Of The Rings cultural depth. But it also has vivid characters, scary moments and fun obstacles, and they carry it briskly along. In the end it relies far less on nostalgia and more on expanding the world of the original film to encompass new complexity and new identities among all these daikinis, and that’s a real treat.

“Willow,” Disney+’s entry in the big streaming fantasy sweepstakes of 2022, may initially seem like a Disney Channel version of “Rings of Power” or “House of the Dragon.” ... Get through the premiere episode, though, and you’ll be rewarded with a little magic. The actors calm down and their teenage characters develop compelling dimensions; the action and world-building grow more awesome each week; and self-mocking humor lends a freshness absent from the super-serious Prime Video and HBO mega-productions.

What this Willow proves to be is a bold, engaging, and above all else fun ride.

Most of the biggest problems exist within the premiere, and afterward, Willow picks up a good bit of steam and starts showing its potential. Audiences who have held the original movie in high esteem for all these years will likely be pleasantly surprised.

A welcome blend of clanging swords and comedy (with some spooky bits to make the kids jump).

Consumed on its own unpretentious terms, it’s easy enough to like.

In lesser hands, this could fall flat on its face, so it’s a pleasant surprise to find just how easily it all goes down. Each member of the ensemble gets their chance to shine, both individually and when paired off. ... But any time we stray from our likable ensemble into the dirty business of the adventure, the show starts to lose steam.

In visual, thematic, and spiritual ways, “Willow” manages to carve out some room of its own that doesn’t feel connected to algorithmic genre expectations or the finer points of a plot from decades past. Still, it takes a lot of journeying to get there.

The new “Willow” feels a little fan-fiction-y. Some will surely lap it up, but I can’t imagine this series, despite its big budget, registering in the pop culture zeitgeist in the same way “Star Wars” and Marvel shows on Disney+ sometimes do.

If you’re inclined towards a YA-quest series, this one is at least on a par with others in that genre, such as Netflix’s thematically similar The Letter for the King. The gags are better and, if the episode one battle scene is any indication, the monster effects have just the right amount of foggy menace. Willow is worth reviving, even if we probably won’t remember it for long.

Willow is solidly down-the-middle entertainment that aims to deliver mnemonic pleasures to an audience that already loves the property, with a few updated ideas and some buffed-and-polished special effects. It suffers mostly when it doesn’t quite grasp the voice and tone of the original film, but just as its successes aren’t really dazzling, its failures aren’t fatal.

The script is often patience-strainingly earnest, but there’s a rich vein of (somewhat incongruous) humour running through it.

This Willow feels very odd indeed, as a show that can’t decide exactly what it wants to be, nor who its intended audience is. ... It’s entertaining in bursts, but uneven overall.

[Willow] only exhibits a spark of life whenever Davis is cracking wise or admonishing his compatriots to follow his lead, which isn’t frequent enough. Perhaps Willow has some amazing surprise around its later corners that justify this return trip to Tir Asleen. On the basis of its maiden installments, though, it mostly comes across as another unnecessary if passable bit of IP exploitation.