Willow

Based on a story by George Lucas, Willow follows Warwick Davis’ title character as he reluctantly agrees to help protect a baby from an evil ruler (Jean Marsh’s Queen Bavmorda) – with Willow eventually receiving assistance in the form of a charming scoundrel named Madmartigan (Val Kilmer). Director Ron Howard delivers an admittedly appealing opening stretch that effectively establishes Willow‘s fantastical world and raft of quirky characters, with, in terms of the latter, the movie certainly benefiting from Davis and Kilmer’s thoroughly charming and affable work as the disparate protagonists (and it doesn’t hurt, either, that the chemistry between the two couldn’t be more solid). The episodic bent of Bob Dolman’s screenplay does pave the way for a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection, however, although the inclusion of several impressively exciting sequences generally compensates for the erratic vibe. (There is, for example, a thoroughly thrilling horse-and-buggy chase that feels as though it’s been pulled directly from the Indiana Jones series.) It’s disappointing to note, then, that Willow, which runs a palpably overlong 126 minutes, suffers from a frenetic climax that’s more exhausting than anything else, and the film, as a result, palpably peters out long before it reaches its predictably upbeat conclusion – which finally does confirm Willow‘s place as a decent fantasy epic that never quite lives up to the promise of its engaging first act.

**1/2 out of ****