Episode 3 of Willow is, frankly, one of the most bonkers things I’ve seen Disney do. It veers all over the place in tone and style (finishing the show with a bad cover of Enter Sandman by Metallica is certainly a bold choice) and just feels like it’s trying to be something for everyone without connecting all that together. It’s trying to appeal to people who loved the film first time round, with a new audience and random people stumbling into the show, but doing it piece by piece.
However, I don’t hate it. Warwick Davies - when he isn’t being burdened down with the slightly more portentous exposition parts of the script is actually quite good, but the rest of the cast are clearly professionals wondering quite what they’ve signed up for. They haven’t loosened up yet and some of them appear really uncertain how seriously they are supposed to be taking it all. Apart from Boorman, who clearly knows how seriously it should be taken…
In parts it’s Game of Thrones lite, in other parts it’s trying to be The Princess Bride. It’s very odd. But not unlikeable.
OMG YOU ARE SO RIGHT. I'm still trying to process it!
LIKE...
What the heck was that scene with the Aggressively Lesbian Forest Lesbians wearing far more contemporary clothes in a brightly lit clearing (during that whole evil storm thing) and then getting just...murdered, like five minutes later. It was SO BIZARRE.
*In fact it felt like Elorah wandered in to a completly different, slightly more contemporary show for five minutes and accidentally got the main character killed
Also...note for the future, writers - introducing and killing off LGBTQ+ folk in the span of a few minutes...does not endear your show to me. Just putting that out there.
I'm very much enjoying the character banter though. It all seems very witty. Apart from Davies who can't act his way out of a paper bag, bless 'im.
Would have liked Mims to tag along with the party too, she seemed like she might have been a cool addition to the party and it's a shame she was only in that second episode very briefly. Hopefully she turns up again at some point.
Spoiler:What the heck was that scene with the Aggressively Lesbian Forest Lesbians wearing far more contemporary clothes in a brightly lit clearing (during that whole evil storm thing) and then getting just...murdered, like five minutes later. It was SO BIZARRE.
*In fact it felt like Elorah wandered in to a completly different, slightly more contemporary show for five minutes and accidentally got the main character killed
Also...note for the future, writers - introducing and killing off LGBTQ+ folk in the span of a few minutes...does not endear your show to me. Just putting that out there.
Yes - that whole sequence felt like it had come from another show altogether. I am running under the assumption it'll happen again.
Davis is noticeably better at the acting part when he isn't actually acting. It sort of fits the character a little though, so it's not too jarring. Most of the time.
In parts it’s Game of Thrones lite
Such as, the lack of light.
Edit: Yeah, it was kind of jarring to see Elora suddenly find herself at a Lake Tahoe cabin circa 2022.
I was assuming they were some sort of fae and the calmness & sun was all part of their trap for her until they heard who she was, but then they died so quickly and had zero tricks up their sleeves.
ALSO. I really, REALLY dislike the "popular music leading into the end credits" thing. I realise that's a Disney TV show staple these days, but it's super jarring.
ALSO. I really, REALLY dislike the "popular music leading into the end credits" thing. I realise that's a Disney TV show staple these days, but it's super jarring.
Enter Sandman was released 31 years ago.
I hate that the willow directors decided that the asinine GoT black screen shots for an entire episode was a good idea.
f*ck that and any director that does it.
pyxistyx wrote:ALSO. I really, REALLY dislike the "popular music leading into the end credits" thing. I realise that's a Disney TV show staple these days, but it's super jarring.
Enter Sandman was released 31 years ago.
*shrug* I'm sure it was (I have zero interest in music that isn't useful background music for ttrpgs), but I was making a generalisation based on the last year or so of disney shows. And the cover used is from 2021.
(Also the cover is better than the original)
If you use lighting so dark that only an oled tv set to the brightest setting can show anything more than black, I’m going to assume your fight choreography is pure sh*t and you tried to fix it in post by blacking it all out.
I don't think I've seen anything about it in the thread so I figure I'll mention it. I've quite enjoyed The Mysterious Benedict Society which just finished season 2. I originally watched it just because Kristen Schaal and Tony Hale were in it. It's vaguely Lemony-Snicket-y with a group of kids (that do also happen to be orphans, but not related this time) trying to solve a quirky mystery. It's also got a Wes-Anderson-lite aesthetic that I like. It's not without it's problems. It can be a bit slow at times and, as is inevitable on a show focusing on kids, some of the kids can get kind of annoying at times. But, overall, I've found it pretty fun.
Willow
If one of these episodes doesn't end with a modernized cover a song from The Doors, I'm going to be disappointed.
APART from another jarring end-theme, I really liked episode 4. Some nice use of old footage blended with new in a clever way, and a lot for old school Willow fans. It is still VERY "YA", especially the dialogue, which...i mean, fair, it's the target demographic, so I don't hold that against it too much, even if it sets my teeth on edge occasionally.
Glad Kit and Jade got past the really awkward thing from their past that popped into my head the second the connection was made.
Still not enjoying it as much as I'd like to, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. The scene with Rool makes me wish they'd had Brownies from the start though, having a dedicated source of comic relief might have helped them not make the other characters flail around so much in terms of tone.
Edit - plus it might have helped Willow dislodge that stick a bit quicker.
I'm really liking it now that the tone it's going for has clicked with me (light YA fun rather than "serious fantasy"), even though i'm usually a sucker for more earnest pathos in my fantasy stuff and there's not a great deal of that here. It still feels very... "hello fellow kids" in it's dialogue a lot of the time though.
The only thing still really bugging me though is the anachronistic music choices at the end of each episode or (worse) the bouncy pop tune during the chase scene at the start of episode 5 which was teeth-gratingly jarring.
At least they went with the original in this episode's end credits.
While Willow is along way from being the best thing I've seen on Disney+, it is one of the most enjoyable. They've managed to get a very likeable group of actors together - even the slightly insipid Elora Dannan Character - and get them all be - well, very likeable. It's certainly settled into it's skin as the series has progressed. The only bum note has been Airk to be honest, but then he really hasn't had a lot to do.
I'm still holding out hope that Val Kilmer makes an appearance right at the end. Doubt it though.
He was in Top Gun, but they had to write him as sick to explain not speaking
While Willow is along way from being the best thing I've seen on Disney+, it is one of the most enjoyable. They've managed to get a very likeable group of actors together - even the slightly insipid Elora Dannan Character - and get them all be - well, very likeable. It's certainly settled into it's skin as the series has progressed. The only bum note has been Airk to be honest, but then he really hasn't had a lot to do.
I'm still holding out hope that Val Kilmer makes an appearance right at the end. Doubt it though.
Still not liking the super dark lighting, but the character motivations appear to be improving. They started out really clunky and still have a bit of it in there, but I am less and less annoyed by Kit as she starts demonstrating more understandable decision making.
Yeah we've given up on Willow. The acting is too wooden and the script is too clunky for us. The cast has been better elsewhere, so I don't think it's them.
He was in Top Gun, but they had to write him as sick to explain not speaking
They actually had his voice speaking in this past episode. Not sure if it was just a voice actor, some vocal replication software, or old clips. But might be a bit awkward if they have him lip syncing to something like that.
In any case I'm close to giving up on this too. It's gotten a bit too silly with the trolls being smart and the main characters being a bit too dumb at times.
I wouldn't expect to see him outside of maybe some combined footage from the movie. He was originally planned to be in it, but then covid happened and with his health issues he decided he couldn't afford to risk it.
Stele wrote:He was in Top Gun, but they had to write him as sick to explain not speaking
They actually had his voice speaking in this past episode. Not sure if it was just a voice actor, some vocal replication software, or old clips. But might be a bit awkward if they have him lip syncing to something like that.
In any case I'm close to giving up on this too. It's gotten a bit too silly with the trolls being smart and the main characters being a bit too dumb at times.
His son narrated his autobiographical film Val and I swear his voice could be a dead ringer for a younger version of his father.
A young Val you say?
Crawley wrote:Stele wrote:He was in Top Gun, but they had to write him as sick to explain not speaking
They actually had his voice speaking in this past episode. Not sure if it was just a voice actor, some vocal replication software, or old clips. But might be a bit awkward if they have him lip syncing to something like that.
In any case I'm close to giving up on this too. It's gotten a bit too silly with the trolls being smart and the main characters being a bit too dumb at times.
His son narrated his autobiographical film Val and I swear his voice could be a dead ringer for a younger version of his father.
I read something last week that said it was Jack Kilmer (whose mother is Joanne Whalley, aka Sorsha) who subbed in for his father in talking to the daughter of Madmartigan and Sorsha.
This last epsiode past - REALLY liked it, like, a lot. It seems to be finding it's feet finally (I think anyway) although given the general reception I'm not sure if it'll get the chance to figure itself out into a second season.
Stele wrote:He was in Top Gun, but they had to write him as sick to explain not speaking
They actually had his voice speaking in this past episode. Not sure if it was just a voice actor, some vocal replication software, or old clips. But might be a bit awkward if they have him lip syncing to something like that.
In any case I'm close to giving up on this too. It's gotten a bit too silly with the trolls being smart and the main characters being a bit too dumb at times.
Apparently the smart trolls are in the novelization or one of the sequel books... so that should only be a surprise to those of us that didn't know any additional content existed... like most of the fans...
Also Val is not in this season due to his health issues according to the articles I've seen. Supposedly if he's healthy the have plans for him if there's a season 2. They intended to have him in this season... but couldn't.
I am enjoying it currently as what it is... popcorn level enjoyment and no more... the episode 7 got a little better but the series could use some polish and some more elaboration... the world was never really established or explained in the movie... just a mishmash of crazy things all in the same world. The TV series needs to realize that to go farther it needs to cement the rules of the world and how it works together... I'm fine with things being a mystery here or there... but damn there are a lot of coincidences and basically no rules.
Crawley wrote:Stele wrote:He was in Top Gun, but they had to write him as sick to explain not speaking
They actually had his voice speaking in this past episode. Not sure if it was just a voice actor, some vocal replication software, or old clips. But might be a bit awkward if they have him lip syncing to something like that.
In any case I'm close to giving up on this too. It's gotten a bit too silly with the trolls being smart and the main characters being a bit too dumb at times.
Apparently the smart trolls are in the novelization or one of the sequel books... so that should only be a surprise to those of us that didn't know any additional content existed... like most of the fans...
If you mean the Shadow War trilogy, there weren't any smart trolls in that, just more feral ones. Other than them both being continuations of the same movie, the books and the show are entirely different so far, so even if something was in those books, there's no reason to think it'd also be in the show.
So, the Willow finale didn’t stick the landing for me, I found it all to be a little anti-climatic and filled so many fantasy show cliches it was entirely predictable from start to finish.
Finishing on Money for Nothing as well - what?
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