I've never watched this as a kid but with the willow series just launched, I thought it was a good idea to get some backstory. From the reviews here I can see that a lot of people like the movie... For me, not so much. It's not bad, and it's not good - It just is. It might be because I don't have the nostalgic childhood feeling associated with it.

I really can't say much happened in the story. There wasn't a lot of depth, backstory or reasoning behind anything. Honestly, from start to finish, nothing truly happens. One major thing that made me want to give up was the pacing - an hour in and I was sure 2 hours had passed and that this was a 3-hour movie. Nothing happens for a really long time and then nothing continues to happen. All in all, it's very lacklustre.

**For anyone about to watch because of the new Willow series, you can skip this because you won't miss anything and it won't give any more backstory than the wiki page (and in episode 1 the first two minutes summarise this entire movie just as well as watching it did).**

Story = 2/10
Acting/Cast = 3/10
Music = 1/10
Rewatch Value = 0/10

Overall = 3/10

Warwick Davis is great in this fantasy as the eponymous fellow charged with keeping a young baby from the evil clutches of the wicked queen "Bavmorda" (Jean Marsh). It has been foretold that this youngster will prove to be the undoing of the reign of terror that has permeated the land, and so this task is going to be perilous to say the least. Arriving at the crossroads, his townsfolk friends decide to abandon him and his quest but fortunately he has recourse to the trapped "Madmartigan" (Val Kilmer) who has been caged up and left to die. Pursued by the queen's battle-hardened daughter "Sorsha" (Joanne Whalley) and her henchman "Kael" (Pat Roach) what now ensues is a grand spectacle of high adventure that features some inspired special effects, a good solid story and some equally engaging characterisations that deliver a traditional good vs. evil scenario. I always support the baddies in movies, and here was no different - but I was very nearly tempted by the courage and decency of "Willow" to switch sides. Kilmer is on good form, his role allows him to flourish with some witty dialogue and plenty of swash and buckle as the denouement - and a magical one at that - looms large. Ron Howard and George Lucas have let their imagination take control here, and I felt it worked rather well. The photography and action scenes work well, and though maybe the story is a bit of an hybrid of others, it still doesn't stop this being an enjoyable David and Goliath style battle that is peppered with some strong supporting performances, some familiar faces and , I think, gets better with age.

**Warwick Davis' life movie isn't bad, but it's not really good either.**

Fantasy cinema has experienced moments of brilliance thanks to the creativity of a good number of directors and screenwriters, and also due to the possibilities brought by technology. However, in the past, things were simpler: directors and technical teams of fantasy films were those people used to improvising a lot and thinking outside the box. That skill is a talent, surely, and sometimes it's preferable to do something more traditional than to use CGI resources so absurdly fake that they don't even deserve to be there. This film, despite being far from being good or deserving a praise, is not a waste of time and there are several details where we can observe redeeming qualities.

The film's value begins with the more or less direct involvement of several prominent people in the film industry at the time: a film written by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard cannot properly be considered a B-movie. Howard directs impeccably, but the truth is that Lucas could have made an additional effort in the script: the story that guides the film is funny, it has good moments, but it is also full of clichés and strange little peculiarities that do not fail to lift us up doubts every moment.

Despite the projection given to Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley in advertising (it is an understandable maneuver since they are well-known actors), the real protagonist is the dwarf Warwick Davis. Yes, it's not a pristine performance worthy of an award, but he couldn't be much better: the actor was still young and inexperienced, but he managed to show talent and resoluteness, making the most of this beautiful opportunity that appeared in his life. Val Kilmer, although more famous, doesn't need to do much and has few real challenges, while the beautiful Whalley and Jean Marsh are authentic attention grabbers and do an equally satisfying job.

Technically, it is a film whose value lies in the very well-designed sets and costumes, and also in the soundtrack, skilfully composed but a little forgettable. It has several special effects, most of them quite dated, but functional. The problem is that, for a film of the fantasy genre, it ends up having a little less "magic" than would be desirable. And despite the story being a little convoluted, the film picks up a high enough pace that this ends up not being a problem.

I haven't watched it as a child so probably my opinion of it would be very different had I felt some nostalgia towards it. It is something my best friend liked when she was a child but which I have never had the opportunity to watch before. I don't know why but before watching it I always thought Willow was a woman's name so it was quite surprising that he is a sort of a hafling. We see a bit of his family life and the world of haflings in general, and he turns out to be a warm-hearted and a sensitive person.

The film contains a lot of action as well as sense of humour, sometimes quite goofy, but on the whole is rather enjoyable. We have the chosen one, a quest to fulfill which falls on a halfling, there is also a fairy queen and little fairies, here called brownies, which bring a lot of comic relief to the movie. There is also magic as the main protagonist Willow has always wanted to become a wizard but, as it turns out at the end, he lacked a proper amount of self-confidence. And near the finale we get a magical battle between two sorceresses.

The film is rather enjoyable, though at times I got the impression that I am watching some production made by amateurs and that the film-makers event the events as they go, it was chaotic at times, especially in the middle. It is meant for children but it seems to me that the battle scenes are a tad too brutal for kids, and as for the main baddie, I guess my primary school self would have been terrified of her. I wonder how all these things would look like in the new show, would the protagonists' characters and their relationships deepened and developed somehow as they would have more screen time.