Willow

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.

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.

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.

This didn't even feel like Willow. It felt like people were attempting to use what little clout the franchise had and use it as a vehicle to introduce a story/characters that should've been written into their own series in the first place. Here's some issues:

1.) Willow isn't even the main character. Imagine going to watch Wednesday only to find out it's about her friends, and she's just kind of 'around'. That's what you get here.

2.) Remember the beautiful orchestral music from the film? Gone. Replaced by completely inappropriate songs, many of which are terrible covers. Hearing The Beach Boys in a high fantasy setting completely detaches you from the show...or Crimson and Clover during a weird forest rave. There's a reason the fantasy genre generally sticks with basic music...anything else feels out of place.

3.) The series changes things with little to no explanation. Why has everyone aged decades except one specific character? Why do certain creatures suddenly have an extensive vocabulary and look completely different? You'll be left with more questions than answers.

4.) The forced modernization. Every race and sexuality are represented. I've said before, diversity is great but not when it feels forced. When it feels forced it's almost as offensive as no diversity, because you're essentially creating 'token' characters. There also shouldn't be social commentary on war/pollution in a fictitious world. We're watching a fantasy series to escape our world for a while, not to be reminded of what exists in it.

Bottom line, I'm fairly confident this series won't be renewed, and with good reason. Warwick Davis deserved way better than this.

If you disliked the acting and dialogue, you clearly misunderstood what was going on in the show. It's not meant to be a serious and heavyweight fantasy like LoTR for example, but a fun ride that you can sit, relax, and enjoy for 40 mins. For me it even felt a little bit like fantasy satire. At some points it was almost breaking the fourth wall even, like when they were talking about "the quest" they were on (as if it's a video game) and mocking the tropers they were getting themselves into.

So having said all this, acting and actor choices were spot-on, especially the Graydon actor - he did an amazing job with the role.

I really wish this gets past the audience thickness and score bombing and renews for volumes II and III.