Willow

It's odd but I don't think of Val Kilmer as an actor with strong comedic chops, despite the fact that the three films I can think of that both he is in and I like (smugness to those guessing the other two) are ones in which he is acting the fool. At some point he seems to have decided that he was a serious actor (pronouncing it ack-tor) and sucked all the fun from his work. A string of incredibly dodgy films probably didn't do wonders for my image of him either.

With it's unusual protagonist, broad simplistic fantasy strokes, sense of wonder and fun and the aforementioned Kilmer as the excellent Mad Martigan, who just narrowly misses Han Solo levels of rogueish charm, Willow is one of the better childrens films of the eighties, which must place it in running for one of the better childrens films of all time, because as everyone knows the art of making movies for the young peaked at around the time I was one of them.

Despite the obvious uses of blue screen, some effects that were probably dated when it was made and entirely bloodless sword fights, I feel it holds up suprisingly well. And lets face it, your kids won't notice such things anyway, you'll be lucky if they're paying attention at all and not trying to spread jam into the dvd player.

As one would hope for an adventure starring a dwarf (is that the politically correct term? I was going to use "wee folk"), it has an excellent sense of scale, that not even Lord of the Rings really captured. With Willow's village wholly inhabitted by persons of short stature who refer to humans as a race of giants and the Brownies, imperilled by a two foot drop it can't help but appeal to those who's place in the world is several feet below everyone else. By which I mean children. Not midgets.

On the subject of Lord of the Rings, this film is quite a lot like (or if we're uncharitable, a blatant rip off) a light version of it in which the ring is an ickle baby and everyone is having a good deal more fun. On the subject of the Brownies, they are to this film what would once have been called "The R2D2" but more recently and more aptly here, "the Jar Jar Binks". This film carries in it's credits the worrying words "Story by George Lucas", which, as is evident here wasn't always such a bad thing, but does leave certain unfortunate artifacts of his hand. The Brownies are as funny as a tax form and about as welcome. But we can overlook them. They're only small.

Proving that fantasy doesn't always have to be dark and gritty (though the wierd troll thing is pretty unpleasant for younger eyes, I recall), Willow fills me with a healthy nostalgic glow, but I truly believe it has the magic and charm to stand head and shoulders above whatever it is that kids watch these days.