A bit of the old magic

• Published date: 06 December 2022
• Publication title: Signal

WHO remembers Willow, the magical quest-in-a-forest film with Warwick Davis in it? It was released in 1988 and hasn’t spawned a spin-off screen universe since — when it has been mentioned, it’s usually in brackets after Davis’ name when he’s doing something else. But in the vicious streaming wars, any viewer-curiosity foothold is deemed invaluable. So here we are: there’s now a sequel in the form of a TV series on Disney+

We return to Tir Asleen, which in long shot is a castle CGI’d into the Welsh countryside and in close-up is a standard fantasy community: knights, four-poster beds, banquets to celebrate an arranged marriage to unite two ancient kingdoms, and so on. In the film it was a battleground of spells, curses and witchery, but we learn that now it has forbade magic — this is very much the sort of place where people say “forbade” — to secure a peaceful existence. The mystery hanging over it is the whereabouts of Elora Danan, the child of destiny whose rescue was the plot driver of the original movie. Is she dead, hidden or banished? The residents of Tir Asleen don’t know.

Out on a nearby rocky outcrop, tomboyish princess Kit (Ruby Cruz, the murder victim’s best pal in Mare of Easttown) sword-fights lustily with her friend and training partner Jade (Erin Kellyman), before reluctantly returning indoors to put on the dress her mother, Queen Sorsha (Joanne Whalley, reprising her film role), has laid out for her. Kit is the bride in the aforementioned arranged union, so now she faces dutiful domestic inertia with nervous nerd Graydon (Tony Revolori). This is, in more ways than one, not what she wants.

But then, calamity! Despite Tir Asleen’s attempt to live a quiet, neutral life as a sort of Switzerland in a world of murderous sorcery, demonic invaders raid the castle and kidnap a prince. A rescue mission is required and, for reasons not dwelt on for too long because they might not make sense, Tir Asleen sends the kids: Kit, Jade, Graydon and a plucky kitchen maid called Dove (Ellie Bamber). They are pushed out into the great unknown, accompanied by the sarcastic and resourceful Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel), who is a thief but also Tir Asleen’s most skilled warrior.

Dare these hopeful...