General Kael

The family watched Willow last night. It had been decades since I last saw it. An interesting observation for me this time through- General Kael.

I've always felt that the point of General Kael was kind of this universe's version of Darth Vader. Supposedly big, evil, and scary. However...

Almost from the first moment we see this character, I felt sympathy for him. He is almost immediately likeable. If the above point was truly supposed to be the feeling we're suppose to get from Kael, the film fails horribly there. I think it started, because they showed his face. Showing his face draws you in and now you're connected on some level. Now we have quite an interesting character instead of a big bad nemesis.

Given the whole Star Wars saga, Vader is far more complex and deep. If you compare Kael to Vader in just A New Hope, I think Kael comes across as the more interesting of the pairing. In the very limited screen time you see Kael, you get a sense of a possibly good man stuck in a bad situation. I gleaned that he was extremely loyal to Queen Bavmorda. Even at this point in the story, he is loyal, but it would not be far fetched at all if he questioned if he was on the good side anymore. I sensed that he was devastated by Sorsha's switching to the good side. I felt that he was hurt, but also glad to some degree.

Pat Roach played General Kael. Seems like a great guy. I think that came through in this character. He was in all three original Indiana Jones films! Probably most memorably as that poor Nazi mechanic. How awesome is that?!

Kael was the best part of Willow for me. I wasn't prepared for this much depth and analysis. I love it when something like this pops out.