Ladyhawke – Review

The film opens in medieval Italy in an Aquila castle dungeon, as small time thief Phillipe Gaston (Broderick) aka The Mouse burrows his way to freedom, escaping the noose of the Bishop (Wood) who is on a hanging spree. Gaston’s exodus prompts the Bishop to send the captain of his guards Marquet (Hutchison) after the fugitive.

The Mouse makes his way through the woods and finds a small village hundreds of miles later, but unfortunately for him, the guards are waiting for just this happening. After a scuffle, Gaston again faces execution, however is saved by Etienne Navarre (Hauer) and his horse Goliath, and his well-trained hawk.

The men journey together, and shortly after things start getting a bit strange… While gathering fire wood Gaston is startled by wolf howling, and runs back to the men’s camp, only to run into a pretty and cryptic woman, Isabeau D’Anjou (Pfeiffer). He wonders if he is dreaming, which she suggests he probably is before vanishing as suddenly as she arrived.

What are these strange happenings? Will Gaston and Navarre work together to overcome the Bishop’s men? What magical events are possibly taking place? Join the raggedy group in Ladyhawke to find out, and be wary of curses!

Overall, I liked this film despite it being 15-20 minutes too long. It has an interesting plot and fairy tale premise, which is well executed overall by the great cast despite a bit of cheese on top of it all. The production values are high, and the cinematography beautiful, however the main drawback is the offbeat and jarring soundtrack which does not fit the vibe at all. It’s like the 80s infused itself into the medieval setting, and the results are not attractive. That being said, overall, the film is a solid adventure and one worth checking out.