During a recent viewing of "Willow" on Disney+, the, well, 1988-ness of the fantasy adventure just jumped off the screen. It still has plenty to offer — including the bond formed by its unlikely namesake hero, portrayed by Warwick Davis, and his companion-in-quest Madmartigan, Val Kilmer's confident but disgraced knight character — but its effects and pacing haven't aged well.
The good news is the new sequel series of the same name from Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm — debuting with two episodes now available on the Disney streaming service — is very 2022 in the best ways. "Willow" is a show chock full of solid modern special effects, pulsates with life and, most importantly, is populated by lots of appealing characters.
The best part is you don't have to remember — or even have seen, really — the film, directed by Ron Howard from a story conjured by the father of "Star Wars," George Lucas.
