My Thoughts on Willow (Season 1)

[Winter]

This is going to sound weird but this show, or at least the first season, reminded me a lot of Star Trek (2009) and my feelings for this show can be summed up by what SF Debris said about the 09 Trek film, it's not that bad, but it's not that great either. I was worried that it would try to be a more "Modern Show" given what was shown in the Trailers (like Willow saying he was "Miffed" ) but thankfully there wasn't a lot of that in the show and it was mostly working to be a more timeless story like the film.

The characters are likeable enough, Willow was fun and it was well paced and the action was pretty solid. But the villains feel a little weak, the plot seems a little to complicated and while the pacing as a whole was good it did feel that the show was dragging it's feet a bit, especially in the middle of the season.

I don't get a lot of the hate this show is getting (and some I just find stupid like one critic critizing the show for not being historically accurate (yes really)) but I do get why some fans of the original were turned off by the show much in the same way I get why fans of ST were turned off by the 09 film.

With Star Trek the movie had a little heavy on action and it felt like it was more of a Star Wars film and not a Star Trek film (which makes sense Abrams was more of a SW fan and by all accounts has never really been into Trek all that much) and I kinda get the same feeling here. This doesn't feel like Willow but more like, and bare with me for a moment, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

I know that sounds weird but many moments called to mind TP and I can't figure out why and while I love TP it felt out of place in Willow. Again, I don't know why I thought of that game but I got that kinda vibe from the show.

Again, on the whole I liked it but I didn't love it. I think another issue I have is that at times this felt more like the Kit show featuring Willow instead of being a show about Willow. In the film, while Willow didn't do much in terms of action it still felt like his movie as he was the one moving the plot forward the most and he had the most screen time. Here it felt like Kit did more to advance the plot and that Willow was almost an after thought at times.

I like Kit but it felt like the show was more interested in her rather then the title character who is, IMHO, one of the most underrated protagonist in all of speculative fiction.

Hopefully season 2 will improve as, again, I like a lot of what we got in this season but felt it was missing that Willow Magic from the original film. Time will tell if what we get next is a Star Trek: Beyond or Into Darkness.

[hammerofglass]

One thing I'm annoyed we never got a payoff for is the woodcutters. The area around their house has different weather than the rest of the forrest they're in (bright and sunny instead of dark and raining) and they dress in modern clothes instead of the generic fantasy wardrobe the rest of the show uses. I thought this was hinting at something supernatural, and after Rool's daughter was just casually in a band t-shirt I assumed it was a fae thing. And since these are people nobody in the party but Elora met and the incident had a big effect on her it could easily be someone playing her, either the Crone or a third party. But nope, never mentioned again.

[Madner Kami]

One thing I'm annoyed we never got a payoff for is the woodcutters. The area around their house has different weather than the rest of the forrest they're in (bright and sunny instead of dark and raining) and they dress in modern clothes instead of the generic fantasy wardrobe the rest of the show uses. I thought this was hinting at something supernatural, and after Rool's daughter was just casually in a band t-shirt I assumed it was a fae thing. And since these are people nobody in the party but Elora met and the incident had a big effect on her it could easily be someone playing her, either the Crone or a third party. But nope, never mentioned again.

Omitting Tom Bombadil was one of the best moves of Jackson.