I hate to say it, but I have zero interest in Amazon's "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," which apparently is poised to take a massive, steaming, T. rex-sized dump on JRR Tolkien's creative legacy. Meanwhile, Disney Plus will be airing "Willow," a series based on the original 1988 movie (and they've brought back Warwick Davis!). I have far more hope for "Willow" than I do for "The Rings of Power," which looks absolutely beschissen.
Here's the trailer for "Willow":
I'm not going to bother embedding the trailer for "Rings of Power."
Frankly, the original "Willow" wasn't that good. It was a product of the mind of George Lucas, and it had characters who were too reminiscent of characters from the Star Wars franchise. Val Kilmer played a roguish swordsman who was an obvious stand-in for Han Solo, for example, and the evil henchman of the big bad guy (lady, really) is an obvious stand-in for Darth Vader. The final battle in the movie's third reel contained some positively cringe-inducing moments. Overall, the movie's plot felt too much like a ripoff of any number of fantasy properties (including Tolkien's), so to see the original story potentially rehabilitated by a new series (with better world-building, if the trailer is any indication) gives me some hope. Unfortunately, "Willow" is on Disney Plus, and I quit that service immediately after bingeing the first two seasons of "The Mandalorian" (whose third season I'm boycotting), so I won't be watching it. My loss, but I hope it does well and proves better than "The Rings of Power."
Man, I am so culturally out of touch. I hadn't even heard of the "Rings of Power" series. I know we share a love for Tolkien, so if you're calling this an insult to his work, it must be bad. I'll need to read up to find out why.
ReplyDeleteDo a YouTube search for "Ryan Kinel Rings of Power," and Ryan'll catch you up.
ReplyDelete