After years of development, Disney dropped the first two episodes of its much-anticipated sequel to the 1988 fan fav, Willow, on Wednesday. Warwick Davis fans celebrated the evil leprechaun’s return to his breakout role, but the audience doesn’t seem pleased with what Disney has shown them so far.
Willow currently holds an audience score of 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Highlights: (1) Marauders in signature skull regalia chasing clumsy spoiled kids off a 10-story cliff (and live). (2) Warwick doesn’t get these kids as he rolls his eyes at Elora passing on his wizard lessons (and Warwick Davis’ performance overall). (3) Sorsha is back.
Fans are pushing back on the first two episodes, but there may be a reason for the high school drama in Nockmaar.
Willow OGs drafted to kick it to the next-gen
As of now, four of the original cast members have returned to hand it over to a new group of adventurers. Reprising their roles: Warwick Davis is returning, Joanne Whalley as Sorsha, and Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton as the brownie duo Rool and Franjean. No sign of Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick) as Madmartigan.
To recap, episode one exists for five reasons:
- Establish that Princess Kit (Ruby Cruz) doesn’t want to marry Prince Graydon (Tony Revolori)
- Give insight into Kit’s relationship with her best friend and knight in training, Jade (Erin Kellyman)
- Bring in Sorsha as the matriarch queen and former warrior (1988 smoke show) now babysitting spoiled castle kids
- Ghost Elora’s love interest and Princess Kit’s twin brother Airk (Dempsey Bryk)
- Kick off a new adventure
Why the list? Because that’s all you need to know from episode one. If you don’t believe us, go ahead and watch it. But it may be all you want to know after listening to Princess Kit go medieval Karen on anyone looking in her direction.
Episode one feels exactly like what you’d think a group of tweens would do if they were pulled off their iPhones, sent back in time, and told they had to pretend to enjoy socializing with boomers. If that gives you an idea…pretty boring…for everyone involved.
Nonetheless, we meet our new heroes-in-the-making as Sorsha sends them off and Willow receives them. The chicks have left the henhouse to learn to fly, and Warwick is their guide.
Episode 2: A new journey begins, for the viewers
After watching both episodes, we decided to watch the original 1988 film. The opening scene(s): the queen kills a mother, the castle comes into view with low-hanging ominous clouds, and we meet the fun and well-wishing Willow after his kids rescue Elora – the game is afoot.
Episode two begins to capture some of the magic of the original film. The skull horse riders appear as our tween band tries to find Willow. We’re introduced to grandpa Willow. Willow is in charge of the bones now. Willow has to convince Elora she is key to the world’s survival. Willow puts Princess Karen in her place.
So, not necessarily a great villain or spooky lair, just Willow. But it’s a start!
But you’re left with hope by the end of episode two (we won’t spoil the rest). Perhaps the audience score will improve as the show goes on. There’s a chance the pilot was just a tough gig for everyone on the set. Juices are just starting to flow; everyone’s getting warmed up. It happens.
For now, Willow still feels like it doesn’t know whether it’s House of the Dragon, What We Do In The Shadows, Lord of the Rings, or iCarly, with Willow.
The cast and crew do a good job with the material. Trying to get the feel of the 1988 cult-classic right while also bringing in a new audience can’t be easy. But by the end of episode two you get the feeling that the characters are starting to find their rhythm as elements from the original film begin to make their way into the story and narratives with low stakes are muted.
And there is cause for optimism. The fact that Willow is sitting at 84 percent on the Tomatometer could mean that critics had access to more content than viewers. If that’s the case, the trend up in episode two may be a reason to believe the long-anticipated follow-up will hit its stride as time goes on.