Willow was one of the strange projects that George Lucas decided he wanted to embark upon in the wake of Star Wars, and features Warwick Davis - yes, the Warwick Davis - as one of a race of little people who ends up trying to stop a malevolent evil queen from abducting a special baby. The movie wasn't particularly well received at the time, given the fact that it was cited as something of a Tolkien rip-off, but the film has since been regarded as something of a cult classic - two and a half decades later, Willow is a genuinely fun and intriguing fantasy yarn. Davis isn't much of an actor, of course, so the movie gives him Val Kilmer (as a bumbling prisoner who reluctantly joins in on Willow's quest) to banter with; the results are - as expected - pretty hilarious, and there are some genuinely impressive set-pieces and visual effects to marvel over across the span of the film (the world of Willow is also rendered with fine detail). If Willow ultimately comes across as a feeling a little derivative of other, more famous works, there's still something about it - the sheer balminess, perhaps - that makes it worthwhile.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
