Willow

I felt that the first episode was OK, 6/10. Unfortunately, each episode presented so far is worse than the previous one.

I don't want to harp on the modernization prevalent in each episode, because, in other shows it doesn't bother me at all. For some reason though, it just grates on me here. It's like fingernails on a chalk board.

Since I'm airing my laundry, let's touch on other things that are sub par, or just plain bad. The two lead actresses are not very good, and the way their characters are written makes them fairly dislikable... a major negative in a show like this. Top that off with appalling humor, or rather, attempts at humor, no tangible bad guy, and a lackluster supporting cast, and you have the makings of a show that is going nowhere.

I'll keep watching, hoping for improvement; but, color me skeptical.

I don't know if people were expecting a masterpiece or something but I found the series enjoyable. Is it cheesey? Yes, but so was the movie. Many of us Willow fans were kids when it came out. You have to watch the series with the eyes of the kid you were and think of this as a fun, family, fantasy series. The special effects aren't bad, better then the 80's for sure. Yes it's a little YA, but that's because they are trying to reach a new audience, a younger one, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Stop trying to take everything so seriously and just enjoy it for what it is. It's not supposed to be another Game of Thrones, which could work in it's favor considering the ending of that show.

No Kilmer (for obvious reasons) and the cast is sorely missing a hero character. The one single thing this serie have going for it is Warwick, but the rest of the cast is so uninteresting, even he has a hard time saving this from becoming a 1 season flop. As of this writing, there has been 3 episodes released of the 8 in total. But I highly doubt the last few will make any difference to this review. If by some magical trickery, the next half of the season will burst into some sort of awesome storytwists or hugely entertaining action sequences, this review will be edited, and hopefully, the show will bloom into something worthy of watching.

It's become apparent that Disney feels some grotesque need to release content on their platform without any deeper thought about what & where to go with it. This is the feeling you get with Willow, and the writing that doesn't even feel amatuer-ish - it feels embarrassing. For everybody on that show, Warwick especially. It's apparent that the writer has no connection with what the character/actor would comfortably say at any given time, prompting him to spew out wordy, awkward lines, that he has to somehow form together into "acting". The dialogue comes across so unnaturally it's embarrassing. Somebody should feel ashamed for this, really.

The last thing you want to do with fantasy is have it come across as modern. Even if you didn't enjoy the Rings of Power show it still has a feel of antiquity about it, about the continuity of what they say and do. About what the characters are concerned with during the course of the show..... but that is not the case here. Here you get Nickelodeon teen drama (that firmly reminds you you're in the year 2022), mixed with half-hearted, poorly conceived fantasy. Which has zero percent of the feel captured in the 1988 movie, and while i can't say that was perfect either it stands as a masterpiece in comparison to this.

Who is to blame here isn't clear. My vote goes to Disney, for coming up with an idea and then going with whatever first idea was presented forth to them, no matter how good or bad it was. The content machine must keep flowing, or else they lose subscribers.. right? Well they will certainly lose people by continuing to release abominations such as this. Ya know i do feel bad, just because i know how severe the internet is going to tear into this one, review-wise. So 6/10 is a mercy from me.

Warwick is ok, the rest of the actors, accents and all the rest is so far terrible. Willow was a childhood favorite including the books but this does not come remotely close to capturing the magic that was the original Willow.

This how ever starts so poorly in episode one and just keeps getting worse. The sword play is laughable, sets below average and the costumes are a complete joke. If you loved the original movie I recommend steering well clear of this joke of a show which I had high hopes for. Warwick and the music are ok but everything else is a let down with Val Kilmer unable to reprise his role as Mad Mortigan due to his previous cancer struggles and loss of voice.

Its a pity as this could have been a wonderful and amazing show.