Movie vs Show Comparison: Forget All You Know... Or Think You Know

[Meredith Quill]

Movie vs Show Comparison goes here.

[Cranberry]

I hadn't seen the movie since I was a kid, so I watched it again last night. It still amused me! There were a lot of fun jokes. It was cheesy, but I expected that. Warwick seemed much more animated in the movie than he does now; I don't know if he's less comfortable in the role now or if he's deliberately playing more standoffish/cranky and it just doesn't work as well. (It was fun to see him screwing up spell wording similarly to how Elora has been... she's worse, but he did turn a sorceress into a number of different animals, so he shouldn't feel too superior.)

The Death Dogs were pretty cool. Apparently they were Rottweilers in fursuits and masks, which made them seem more real. I also loved Fin Raziel as a brushtail possum, rook, and goat. The animation on the animal mouths worked surprisingly well. Some of the other special effects, like any time the Brownies were being carried around in a bag or pocket, were much iffier, as was the Eborsisk monster. Oh, and Cherlindrea floating there in all her '80s Xanadu-looking glory made me chuckle.

I don't know how anyone can complain about the romance on the current show when the one in the movie came out of nowhere, haha. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it was very abrupt. Madmartigan got dosed with the dust, professed his love to a woman he'd hated five minutes prior (he actually threatened to break her leg!), she was seemingly kinda into him after one flowery speech about how much he adored her, they both started developing actual feelings when he literally kidnapped her (even though they barely spoke), and then seeing him fight at Tir Asleen was enough to make her fall in love with him and turn against her mother completely? I keep seeing people complaining about the current romance(s) on the show being "too CW" or whatever, but at least they have history/buildup.

Overall I feel like the tone of the show is pretty reminiscent of the movie. Maybe the people I've seen complaining are remembering it as more serious than it was, or something, but it really wasn't. The Brownies were especially ridiculous. It was also pretty light on lore, so it's fun to see the show explore that more with new elements like The Gales and the Blood of the Six.

[Bort]

46 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I don't know how anyone can complain about the romance on the current show when the one in the movie came out of nowhere, haha. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it was very abrupt. Madmartigan got dosed with the dust, professed his love to a woman he'd hated five minutes prior (he actually threatened to break her leg!), she was seemingly kinda into him after one flowery speech about how much he adored her, they both started developing actual feelings when he literally kidnapped her (even though they barely spoke), and then seeing him fight at Tir Asleen was enough to make her fall in love with him and turn against her mother completely? I keep seeing people complaining about the current romance(s) on the show being "too CW" or whatever, but at least they have history/buildup.

There was more subplot about Sorsha’s change of heart at Tir Asleen. When we saw it in the movie, there were all those people’s images kind of painted onto the walls and Sorsha’s father was one of them. The suit of armor Madmartigan found belonged to him. It all got dropped to tighten up the length of the movie which still ended up being over two hours long. I read the novelization of the movie yeeeeeeears ago and it goes into all of it.

[raven]

I watched the movie recently and I think the tones are very similar, with the show being a bit more dark, what with the casual deaths and all.  I actually thought Jade and Kit were a couple - or right on the verge - and though right now I think Jade can do better, the chemistry is there.   The Sorsha/Madmartigan instant love I just put down to the time the movie was made - again, the actors had chemistry, so it worked.  I don't really take the movie too seriously, for me, I didn't love or hate it. 

9 hours ago, Cranberry said:

Warwick seemed much more animated in the movie than he does now; I don't know if he's less comfortable in the role now or if he's deliberately playing more standoffish/cranky and it just doesn't work as well.

I agree about his demeanor in the movie, though I read somewhere that he said that Willow would have trouble with the mentor role, so I'm leaning towards the crankiness being a deliberate choice.  They've dropped hints about something bad happing that drove the Nelwyns underground.  We don't know what happened to his wife and son (unless I'm not remembering it).  There was a definite tiredness/wistfulness about the past when Willow talked to Silas in the episode before last.  Using magic debilitates him, etc.  I think Warwick Davis is deliberately playing a tired, cranky character, which is interesting because Willow CAN do magic now.