Johnathan Kasdan's revival of the cult hit 1988 fantasy epic Willow is fun and entertaining in parts, but in a competitive market, it's having a tough time. There's nothing especially wrong with it, but the baffling creative decisions and the complete lack of focus have made it less than the sum of its parts.
"Chapter IV: The Whispers of Nockmaar" was written by Julia Cooperman, best known for her work on the 2016 sci-fi drama Colony. Debs Paterson returns to the series after directing episode 3. There are more writers on this series than there are episodes, and it would seem as if there are some crossed wires on the team.
The problem with Willow is that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It doesn't feel like a revival of the type of big imaginative fantasy blockbuster that inspired it. It doesn't feel like a modern update of the story. It feels like a show that wanted to do both, and in its attempt to appeal to everyone, it'll have a hard time sticking with anyone. It's afraid to be too dramatic, too scary, too action-packed, too funny, or too romantic. No one element sticks out. Almost every scene, no matter how tense, includes or ends with a joke or two. Some of the jokes land, but there are simply too many. The most prevalent details are the bizarre ones, like the way that every episode ends with a movie trailer cut of a popular classic rock song. It's kind of a metaphor for the entire show. A modern take on an old thing that a lot of people like, but it doesn't quite capture the appeal of either side.
Chapter 4 takes place entirely in the castle that held the original film's villain. The cowardly Prince Graydon finds himself the victim of demonic possession and the rest of the crew is forced to take shelter to deal with it. In doing so, they put themselves in mortal danger. This is a classic bottle episode, in which the cast is trapped in a single location. In a sitcom, this is usually a chance for the characters to deal with their relationship with limited room for hijinks. In this dark fantasy show, however, it's mostly a chance to play with Sam Raimi-esque camera angles and mild horror elements. Characters are separated, the evil force plays tricks on them, and they still spend a lot of time talking about the ominous legend in the background. It's a decent pitch, but there's a bit too much going on to enjoy the simplicity.
If Willow is targeted at young adults or teens, the constant digressions about the plot of the original film won't land with them. If the target audience is fans of the 1988 film, there are a few points in this episode that will appeal. These legacy sequel concepts generally come in two forms. Either a creator sees a beloved old work as a canvas upon which they can paint their masterpiece, or they see it as a well of references that can be used to appeal to nostalgia. Willow is probably more so the former than the latter, but its position on that scale is constantly shifting. This episode includes the most blatant attempt to depict the cast of heroes as the spiritual reincarnation of the original film's protagonists. The problem is that the show doesn't have anything to say about the original story. It's too scared that the average viewer didn't see Willow (1988) to exist in conversation with it.
There is, as always, plenty to like about Willow. Warwick Davis is still a fun and charismatic performer, even though he's stuck delivering exposition more often than not. The writing occasionally pulls off a funny joke or interesting character turn, but all the twists are blatantly obvious. As the show goes on, it feels like it's too concerned with the textbook of lore someone wrote for the original story. So many plot elements could be explained through a line or two, but entire pages of the script seem to be dedicated to the nature of the villains' plan. Anyone tuning in for a fun fantasy adventure will get that, but they'll also get a lot of extra fluff no one asked for.
Willow is a fine enough show to watch, but it's frustrating because it could be so much better. Fantasy adventure stories run best when a lot is left to the imagination, but Willow refuses to take its hand away from the keys for long enough to create magic. George Lucas isn't involved in this project, and he only wrote the story for the 1988 film, but there are a lot of parallels between Willow and his poorly-received work. Sometimes, all the world needs is a bunch of heroes on a fun magical quest. Not every story needs to appeal to everybody, but, hopefully, the people looking for Willow will find what's worthwhile in it.