Willow (TV Series) The Gales (2022) User Reviews

The Gales

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 2 December 2022]

There was a scene in Warwick Davis 2013 mockumentary Life's Too Short. He is visited by Val Kilmer who goes around wearing a Batman mask and is desperate for a sequel to the movie Willow.

Now almost a decade later, Disney needing content for their streaming service and comes up with a sequel television series.

Unfortunately Kilmer's participation is in doubt due to his health issues. Maybe they should have hung up a big picture of Madmartigan.

The first episode starts with a recap from the movie, which has scenes of Kilmer.

Now Elora has been hidden away by Queen Sorsha for many years for her own protection.

When Sorsha's son Airk Tanthalos is abducted. His sister Kit, best friend Jade and the maid who was being romanced by Airk forma motley band to find him.

They need to locate Willow first.

The first episode is very much a Young Adult novel come to life. There has to be a lot of introductions, there were bound to be a few twists.

Willow the film was not a hit movie. Like a lot of Lucasfilm offerings not called Star Wars, it flopped or got a lukewarm critical reception.

So Willow the series was an unexpected surprise. The first episode was intriguing enough but not much more and the characters were not that interesting.

Okay first episode with some standout moments

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 3 March 2023]

A mission is launched to rescue a prince.

This is a reasonably good start with some good spectacle and okay character moments.

The story mixes some of the original Willow themes/characters with some Disney Princess tropes and introduces a new adventure. Events unfold in an entertaining way but (much like the original movie), I found it difficult to thoroughly buy into it, as the characters are not compelling enough and the humour is very hit and miss, with Thraxus being the only character having any impactful delivery so far.

I felt more positive towards the end when we finally see the title character. He seems just as noble and likeable as in the movie, but hopefully a streaming show has the time to make him a more rounded character.

Visually it is excellent, with strong cinematography that tells the story well and uses the beautiful Welsh landscapes to spectacular effect. There are some good intense action sequences that generate scares when needed.

It's early days to judge the show, but my 7 year old daughter thoroughly enjoyed it, so I am willing to keep going.

For me it's a 6.5/10, but I round upwards.

Not brilliant but let's see

[pauli_gomez · 6/10 · 12 January 2023]

So...This was not a mind-blowing first episode. I particularly find that the tropes of the bratty princess and the weak prince are tiresome but I also have to admit they make sense in this case. Both Sorsha and Madmartigan were skilled in a fight but impulsive and hot-headed. And Madmartigan was also a womanizer and basically a rogue.

I do think that if they are going to rescue a prince, the party should have been larger. But I can more or less accept the children. I am just wondering what exactly is Boorman story.

My main problem with that is the backstory. So, the movie implied that Elora would be the princess and future Queen of the land, raised with love by Sorsha and Madmartigan. But apparently not. The prophecy made Sorsha take completely stupid decisions and steal the child from their rightful childhood.

Ok so, so far the story did not impress me but I can accept the characters as fun for teenagers or children. Like I was when I first saw Willow. And I am happy to see Willow and Sorsha again. Now, I did not like with they did with the aftermath of the movie but I still have some hope for this show to get better.

Now, if we could just shake the feeling of watching a ripoff of the Wheel of Time show...

Absolutely ecstatic for this show.

[sqrkmctf · 10/10 · 18 January 2023]

This show in general has been just amazing to watch, really gives me classic fantasy vibes. It is very PG and has a lot of diversity and representation and Disney did almost no advertising for it which is probably why it's not ranked higher. But my family and I loved the show. Highly recommend Kit/Jade so adorable and I love seeing the representation. Is it overly complex or a masterpiece? No it's not, but it's a very solid show and has a lot of potential, I think a lot of it falls short due to lack of budget but it'd be a shame to see this show cancelled. I'm really hoping for a second season, really enjoyed it :)

The show is fun!

[mrios-02451 · 10/10 · 6 February 2023]

I've rewatched this episode 3 times and it sets up the story well. After rewatching the show through I've found multiple things that connect back to the first episode. It introduces the characters well and isn't just for people that watched the movie. Parts from the movie are incorporated into the episode that makes sense even for new watchers. I think they do a good job of giving us new characters that are fun, but also have deeper layers they can build upon throughout the first season. I think people forget that growth isn't all going to happen in one episode. I find the new characters more relatable than the original characters. The season was a lot if fun and reminds me of some of the D&D campaigns I've been in. I'm looking forward to seeing the cast in more things and hopefully continue the show.

They ruined the magic of Willow in 2 minutes.

[garabedian123 · 1/10 · 1 December 2022]

They couldn't say Madmartigan died of illness or anything? But that he never changed from his scumbag ways. That is garbage! Who wrote this?

And they kept Elanora a secret from herself only to tell her in a completely non dramatic or interesting way? Why even bother?

So where does episode 1 take us? To a world taking things from Willow and using them as part of another franchise. And of course that franchise just had to be a teen romance movie.. it feels like a show for middle school girls.

I can't imagine the target audience being anything other than 30 plus year old adults. So why aim for a school girl audience? Even amongst us old people Willow is not that greatly known. Most of my friends gave never heard of it. But I have always loved it since I was a kid. It was my lord of the rings. Imagine if the next lord of the rings movie was high school musical 5? It just wouldn't fit the genre.

Over All

[rtrscckrh · 9/10 · 26 February 2023]

I think that "Willow" was a very good show but I do think that it could have brought more of the first willows story into the new one. I liked how they were always on different adventures. All of the characters went on the separate journeys to find who they are. I liked how they included the Lgbtq+ community into something like this especially that it is getting to be on a platform like Disney+. This show has many twists and turns, unexpected moments or things that you didn't think a character would experience. One thing I do think that they could have Paz bit more time into was Kit and Jades relationship, they made them have their first kiss in the first episode and then they just forgot about it for majority of the series. So if they were to add more moments or even stretch it out a little bit longer it would be perfect. So this is why I gave the new series "Willow" a 9/10.

Yes, give us nothing.

[W011y4m5 · 3/10 · 6 December 2022]

It's hard to think of another example, stronger than this - of a cast & crew of a production making it so blatantly obvious what they're solely here for; Disney+ is cynically (& unimaginatively) capitalising off of the "Willow" brand, the creators seemingly know it & everyone involved in the adaptation of these derivative scripts is additionally here (or brought back from the original) in order to blatantly cash the cheques they'll be earning, in exchange for their attendance during this shoot. Nobody seems to have any desire to be there (besides getting paid), nor is anyone noticeably incentivised to tell an engaging story that would narratively justify a televised sequel on this corporate streaming service; there's no sense of enthusiasm or energy, no passion, no creativity in front of & behind the camera; this is purely WORK & my goodness, they've made it feel laborious to sit through.

Due to the cold, transactional nature of the show's creation, actors give the bare minimum (hardly making any effort to sell the awful lines of dialogue they're saddled with), the directing is flat & lifeless, the cinematography's unimaginative, the jokes are mistimed & often don't land & I get the impression everyone was simply there to make it to the end of another shift. Hence, it's a culmination of uninspired departments, churning out content for the sake of it, not really believing in the product they're helping to create.

There's no heart or soul put in to this. They were tasked with making another bland fantasy series in a sea of other fantasy genre pieces (which already dominate opposing viewing platforms)... And this one undoubtedly isn't able to compete. It ineffably sinks - & most certainly doesn't swim. What a wasted opportunity.

Let's send criminals, old men, and children to rescue a prince

[robertdlar · 5/10 · 6 December 2022]

First off, what did Val Kilmer do to these people that they would do this to his character. Top Gun (2) was a glowing and amazing tribute to his character Iceman, thanks to Tom Cruise, but Kasdan (you are not your father) decided to turn Madmartigan into a deadbeat dad?

Second.... Let me see if I understand this. To protect Elora Danon for danger we are going to hide her in the kitchen, not even tell her who she is and not bother to train her in ANY THING that would be useful for her to protect herself? Do I have this right or am I missing some part of the stupidity?

Lastly the CROWN prince is kidnapped and rather than, oh I don't know an ARMY, they send out 3 Children who have never seen combat (2 of which are Prince and Princess because having ONE royal hostage is not enough) and old man and a criminal????? Is it just me or is this just bad? I understand they are the main characters but FFS can we take 10 minutes to figure out a more believable reason for the quest? OH Maybe they were traveling to the other kingdom for the wedding and they got jumped by the Gales and everyone was killed except for the main characters and now they decide to chase after Airk to rescue him. Took me 10 seconds.

So others here complained about the Elora Danon reveal. First off it was not that bad, but more importantly if Sorcha knew Dove was Elora then how the HELL does she let her out of her sight?

To end with something possitive. I have no problem with any of the characterizations. Kit is a princess and acts like a spoiled brat with high reguard for herself and her abilities, perfectly resonable. Prince Graydon is the spoiled and very sheltered crown prince so everything he does makes perfect sense to me. It was suggested that Jade would be the first Knight of her kind, not sure what they mean by that, but given Sorcha I cannot imagine she would be the first female taken. Airk again is a kid and just like his father, though I would have liked to see some demonstration of him being a great swordsman. Though either way is fine, not all princes were their fathers. King Edward the Longshanks was a great warrior his son was not.

My final take on the show is this. Willow doesn't even appear in the first episode named after HIM. It is a SERIES and thus has the leeway to take it slower, I would have liked the first episode to feature more character develompment and introduction so that when stuff does happen we actually give a damn about the characters. Even in the movie (which doesn't have the time) they spend enough time on Willow himself for you to have empathy for him and his situation. Since there are MORE characters (but also more time) they should have spent more time on introductions saving the action for the end.

How disappointing

[davidjmcleod · 4/10 · 1 December 2022]

Wow, umm... I didn't expect it to be as good as the original, but I didn't expect it to be this cliche and bad either. The world-weary Queen Sorsha dealing with the spunky, misfit youngins as they go about their one dimensional cliche routines is all of us watching this remarketed-as-young-adult adventure tripe.

There is no feel of wonder to this world anymore; it just feels bland. The music that plays during the episode is uninspired and not at all reminiscent of the original, and the pop song they play for the end credits is so jarring it spoils whatever tiny bits of nostalgic joy this show managed to dredge up.

I'm currently watching the second episode to give it a fair shake, and so far? Yeah... I don't think I will be back next week. Kathleen Kennedy has already spoiled enough of my childhood stories, she doesn't need this one too.

Where's the light

[jdfinch-32732 · 3/10 · 4 December 2022]

Watching the first episode.....trying. It's lightning is so dark I can't see what is happening. Went into my settings to brighten up the picture and found out it's at the max. I don't care if it's trying to be authentic, make it so we can see it at least. If this keeps up, I won't keep watching. For the actual quality of the show, its doesn't have the same feeling as the original movie but I am only in one episode so far. The magic is lackluster and I don't mean the one used in the show. If I can see what's going on, I'll try and keep watching but I feel like this isn't so. I guess we'll see what happens.

Sword and neurosurgery, for millennials

[namob-43673 · 1/10 · 2 December 2022]

After watching the first episode for 6min I already knew that not only would the episode be a urine soaked rag, the entire show is an abysmal failure.

How could I possibly know? Well, the prince and princess act like two spoiled millennials from the real world and are as royal as sponge Bob. Two girls are fencing like that is a normal thing for two girls to do in medieval circles. The frackled lady is among the worst actresses i have ever seen, she is almost as horrible as the supposed Queen who look like she was hired from a life of cleaned toilets. Not even background characters know how to move or behave. The sets look cheap, everything is boring, the sound design is beyond horrible, and the costumes look like something I would be able to sow.

I still decided to watch further... sadly.

The rest of the first episode can closest be described as a very cheap highschool play written by a blue haired twitter user standing in line to do neurosurgery.

This is so bad. So incredible bad. I was ashamed, and I felt so cringe. I feel so sorry for the few who have talent on this show, not sure who but I assume they exist.

2/10 only because this is also, at times, unintentionally funny. I think this will be amazing to do drinking games to later on when the disappointment and cringe has subsided a bit.

Not a great first episode

[tyson-davis-11-922277 · 5/10 · 7 December 2022]

I don't remember the original movie. I know I saw it as a kid, but don't remember anything about it. So I didn't go into this new series with any expectations or biases.

This first episode is...not good. The production values are not good. The direction is not good. The writing is not good. The acting is uneven.

The final scene is still shocking at how terrible it was. Terrible writing, directing and acting. It sounds like a pretty big deal that was done in a comically bad way.

I'll watch the next ep to see if it gets any better. I'm not holding my breath. Maybe I should go back and watch the original movie.

Concerning

[jmoorenec · 2/10 · 23 September 2023]

There are many problems in this episode which linger throughout the show. Unllikable new characters, severly damaged old characters, breakneck pasing, poorly filmed/choreograft fightscenes, and extensive modernisms.

The writers didn't seem to understand the history of either the world or the characters. Fans of the original movie or the books will most likelly not recognize the world portrayed in this show, whist new watchers will be lost due to not having the history and lore explained to them properly.

When it comes to characters, I fear few people will sympathise with many of them. Kit is a spoiled, vain brat who can stand anything not going her way. Her best friend, Sorsha, her mother, is stalward in her naivety, refusing to let the prophesized magic child train in order to destroy the forces of darkness. Many other characters possess equally infuriating faults. Meanwhile, almost all the dialogue of these characters is unfitting fot the setting they're in.

The only character that didn't feel either out of place, or unlikable was Jorgen Kase, the virtuous, brave old knight. He is one of two characters in this show that doesn't have a distinct "modern" feel to his dialogue.

In short, Willow S.1 E.1 is a concerning start to a show.

Disappointed

[mathias-gronqvist · 3/10 · 24 February 2023]

Well that was a big disappointment. I was so looking forward to Willow because I just loved the original film. But this fell flat somehow. I usually don't like when a film becomes a series. It will very quickly become boring when they think they have to get in to so much detail in every character life, relationship, problem and so on. It quickly turning in to a soap drama. And this unfortunate became that. Very little Willow feeling at least in this first episode. It was more like a cheep wannabe episode of GOT .. just sad. I really hope that the rest of the episodes have much more willow feeling in them.