Oh, my! Willow was quite a different movie than I expected. I almost don't know where to start. The film follows the adventures of dwarf-like Willow Ulfgood as he tries to return a future princess to safety.
Directed by Ron Howard with the story by George Lucas, the film stars Warwick Davis as Willow Ulfgood, Val Kilmer as swordsman/thief Madmartigan, and Jean Marsh as Queen Bavmorda.
SUMMARY
The wicked Bavmorda fears a prophecy: that a baby will be born who will grow up to defeat her and end her evil reign. She captures all pregnant mothers and kills their baby. One day, the prophesied baby is born, but the midwife secretly escapes with her. She finds out that she is being hunted and pushes the baby girl down the river on a piece of land. Does any of this sound familiar? (Pharaoh kills newborn babies, though only boys in that case, and then a midwife puts a Hebrew baby in the Nile River)
Well, the baby ends up by the house of the Ulfgood family. Eventually, after an attack on their village, Willow and others are chosen to take the baby to safety.
Along the way, Willow soon becomes the only one remaining in the original party. With the help of a thief and experienced swordsman named Madmartigan, he reaches a castle where he has been instructed to take the baby. They arrive, but the forces of Queen Bavmorda are quickly catching up.
The movie ends in a final battle between good and evil.
CONTENT
The film's violence was, I think, not appropriate for a PG rating. It should have definitely earned a PG-13 rating. Though the many deaths by swords are bloodless, they are graphic. Not to mention frightening creatures and a scene where people are gruesomely turned into pigs. There is also a scene where Willow uses magic on a troll. The troll turns into a nasty creature and is pushed into the water. He comes out later as a two-headed dragon (which will likely frighten younger viewers).
There is one scene where Madmartigan poses as a woman, and he wears a dress for at least a third of the film. Later, Madmartigan is accidentally hit with a love potion, and he falls in love with the Queen's daughter. There were two or three kissing scenes in the film.
The language was sparse, but there was two uses of h*** and one use of a**.
Witchcraft and sorcery are used many times throughout the film (it is a main theme in the story). It was very dark and there seemed to be no redeeming aspects to this (such as in The Lord of the Rings books or The Chronicles of Narnia).
The idea and story behind Willow was actually pretty good: a baby who will one day rise up to defeat the evil queen is in danger. An unlikely hero leads the quest and ultimately triumphs over evil. The beginning of the film even reminded me a little of Lord of the Rings (along with a plot that reminded me of the biblical story of Moses, as I said in SUMMARY).
With such men that worked on the movie, I have to admit I was expecting something more. George Lucas (known for his work on Star Wars and Indiana Jones) provided a jumbled and contradicting story.
Apart from the storyline and the music, I greatly disliked the violence (terrible for a PG film) and witchcraft. If you do watch this movie, keep in mind it is not one for children and has some themes that are wrong no matter your age.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Length: 126 minutes
Rating: PG
Director: Ron Howard
Producers: George Lucas, Joe Johnston, Nigel Wooll
Music: James Horner
Year of release: 1988
Primary audience: Teens, adults
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