I admit that I have a deep love for 80’s fantasy movies. I am not sure why. I wasn’t born in that decade and the only 80’s fantasy movie I really grew up with was ‘The Last Unicorn’ and I might have seen ‘The Dark Crystal’ and ‘Labyrinth’ on TV a few times growing up. However, there is something about the 80’s fantasy movie that I love, I don’t know if its the atmosphere, the rather unique, but at the same time cliche use of fantasy. Or maybe it is because the Movie Staff had to actually be creative and not use CG I for ever damn scene. I am looking at you Mr. Lucas. However, since you did have a hand in this movie I will not be too harsh on you, this one time.
Well, anyway here is the plot.
Fearful of a prophecy stating that a girl child will be born to bring about her downfall, the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) imprisons all pregnant women within her realm, the formidable stronghold of Nockmaar. A child is born in the Nockmaar dungeons and identified as the prophesied child by a birthmark on her arm.
Before the black sorceress arrives to claim the child, the mother convinces her reluctant midwife to escape with the baby. Bavmorda sends her daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and General Kael (Pat Roach), the leader of her army, after the midwife to retrieve the baby. After a long pursuit, Nockmaar hounds finally catch up with the midwife. Knowing she can’t escape, she puts the baby on a makeshift raft and sends it downstream, trusting fate to run its course, just before she is caught and torn apart by the hounds. The child washes up on shore near a village inhabited by a race of hobbit-like people called Nelwyns and is found by the children of Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), a farmer and amateur conquer with latent magical abilities. Willow is at first reluctant to take in the baby, but eventually comes to care for her.
While doing research over 80’s Fantasy movies, again and again, I heard Willow being mentioned and I didn’t know anything about it, but the main character was a dwarf. I thought that sounded cool. Dwarf actors are often regulated to comedy roles, sadly, but thankfully, things have changed slightly in recent years with shows like ‘Game of thrones’. However, a movie with the dwarf as a hero, or any type of disabled hero, is rare. When I saw my library had it, I knew I had to pick it up. I also found out during my research that the movie scored 7.1 on Inmb and 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. After, seeing the movie I will tell you that this is a movie that an audience will probably love, but critics will be split on.
Well, on to my review. I loved this movie and I actually put it above Labyrinth in terms of my favorite 80’s movies. Sorry David Bowie’s balls. The movie does use archetypes of the fantasy genre; The reluctant insecure hero, the anti-hero who turns out good in the end, the old and wise wizard(Gender flipped in this case!), the one who turns from good to evil in the name of love, and the evil overlord. All sorts of things. However, just because a movie uses archetypes, cliches, and tropes does not mean the movie is poorly and badly made. Presentation is everything and all the characters are developed and likable enough for you to forgive the fact that their types are as old as myth(literally) and the relationships are subtle and heartwarming.
Everything, from Willow’s relationship to his wife and children to little things like everyone bonding with Elora, to Madmartigan putting Willow on his shoulders to carry him. The friendships in this movie develop in what feels like an organic way. Sorsha’s romance with Madmartigan can come off as forced to some viewers, since it does begin with a love spell and a cheesy love poem. Despite this I wasn’t rolling my eyes at the romance. I think it might have been how I interrupted Sorsha’s character. She has likely been so abused by her mother that she has never had anyone spoken tenderly too her or say that they love her. You might feel differently, but too me it wasn’t that bad. Still, I feel that the relationships in the movie are naturally developed and the movie does have a lot of heart too it.
I feel the fact that the movie has a clear heart too it, helps smooth over the at times roughness and pacing of the story. Giving your movie a heart is not accomplished with C G I, George Lucas. Yes, I know I wouldn’t say anything else about him, but I couldn’t resist. I’ll be good now. Giving a movie a heart depends on good writing and good actors that know the characters well.
The plot can get jumpy at times and at times there well be scenes where you ask yourself, “Why was that there?” However, the pacing is mostly good and the subplots are handle at the right times. Such as the before mentioned romance, Fin Raziel trying to teach Willow how to turn back into a human, and the humor by the brownies. Your mileage may vary with the brownies humor. I think small children will find the brownies humor more enjoyable rather than someone older.
The action was well paced and interesting, I don’t recall every getting bored with the action scenes, though I didn’t find them that unique in any way. However, Willow handles it’s tropes well enough, like I said earlier presentation is everything.
It’s a good family movie. I don’t find anything that parents would reject about the movie, unless you are a fundie and can’t stand the thought of your children seeing any media with magic.
Oh, I suppose since I am a feminist you want a gender analysis from me about the film? Well okay, here it goes. First, it passes Bechdal’s test.
Willow handles women pretty well, but it’s not perfect. A good chunk of the movie has the only main female character as an infant while everyone else is male. The movie also uses the God save us from a queen trope, where a female ruler is depicted as evil and must be stopped. This sadly happens more often when a woman is in power in fiction, than a man. However, unlike most fiction, she is not replaced by a man or a ‘princess’ in the end her daughter succeeds her as queen. So it doesn’t seem to show female leadership as being inherently bad.
Sorsha converts to good because of a man at the surface, and not because she objects to her mother’s treatment of the people or killing of an infant. However, the movie hints that she has been verbally abused by her mother and in her heart doesn’t have loyalty to her. Sorsha is always properly dressed, even in the scene in her nightgown and never objectified and used for fan service. She is a strong warrior and is strong at the end of the film and uses her ability to fight to help save the day.
One very positive thing about Willow and gender is that it almost all of Willow’s mentors in magic are female. Cherlindrea is the one who gives Willow his wand and tells him how to continue his quest and Fin Raziel takes over the old and wise mentor role usually given to a man and Fin Raziel is very powerful in her own right.
At the end of the film the Sorsha and Fin Raziel go in to fight Queen Bavmorda, and tell Willow that he can stay behind. The women use phyiscal force and magic in order to fight the queen and what happens in the end is an old woman cat fight over the wand until both women are knocked out and Willow had to step in. Willow doesn’t use magic or physical force to defeat the evil queen and instead smarts and trickery.
This is a clear gender reversal of the women using force and the man using trickery in order to save the day. I approve of this role reversal, highly and love it when fantasy uses creative means to end a conflict.
All in all, it is a good movie and I think I will get a copy of it myself. I encourage you to check it out and I believe you can find it on youtube.
