The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Tonight, I saw “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” which came out 11 days ago. As a huge fan of “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy and “The Hobbit” movie trilogy, and who listened to all the audio CDs after seeing the movies, I was excited to go see it. Especially since this is animated, which I don’t think has been done since Ralph Bakshi and the Rankin Bass people have made their films, I was looking forward to seeing how this would be made. However, this movie has been getting slammed and there aren’t that many showings of it now, so is this really as much of a disappointment as others are making it out to be or is this another film that critics are wrong on?

This is an anime prequel to the famous film trilogy, is a visually rich diversion made with undeniable care. It’s also a greatly distrustful example of so much that’s wrong with Hollywood today.

Zaki Hasan said in his review, “While suitably respectful of J.R.R. Tolkien’s text and Peter Jackson’s adaptations, the animated movie can’t outrun the specter of what it is: an attempt by the “Rings” rights holders to keep the assembly line churning and hold onto its most precious of properties.”

More than 20 years after they were released, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy still is one of the biggest chances in movie history. Home studio New Line Cinema took a huge chance on Jackson’s determined plan to film all three books of Tolkien’s famous fantasy books at once. The result was three successive hits between 2001 and 2003, and so many Academy Awards that had competing studios desperate to recapture the same magic.

Then fans got a trilogy adaptation of “The Hobbit” (2012-14) and Amazon Prime Video’s current prequel series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” (which I have heard have no connection to the films). Hasan noted, “There’s money to be minted in Middle-earth, and the quest to keep those “Rings” riches coming also accounts for the existence of “The War of the Rohirrim.””

Hasan continued, “Taking inspiration from one of the multitudinous appendices in Tolkien’s texts, the anime is set roughly 200 years before the events of “The Hobbit,” expounding on the backstory of Rohan, a significant location in the “Lord of the Rings” second and third film installments.” “The Two Towers” has its three-act battle scenes set at a mountain fortress called Helm’s Deep. If you watched that part and thought how the place got its name, then you can see it in this 134-minute origin story.

Hasan said, “Jackson is aboard as executive producer here along with co-scenarist Fran Walsh and co-writer Philippa Boyens, who helped draft the story, so the lineage is there to ensure that it dovetails with what came before. That they were able to pull so much plot from a pretty threadbare premise is an impressive feat all by itself, including the creation of lead character Hèra (voiced by Gaia Wise) — heretofore unnamed daughter of Rohan’s king — almost out of whole cloth.”

The pieces are definitely there. Hasan said, “The voice cast includes Miranda Otto (reprising her cinematic role of Éowyn) as narrator of the story and Brian Cox (“Succession”) bringing all his gravelly gravitas as King Helm Hammerhand, who packs a right hook worthy of his moniker.” Stephen Gallagher’s score also nicely extends and musical themes created by Howard Shore in the previous films. Hasan said, “The animation is fluid and captivating, with veteran anime director Kenji Kamiyama (“Blade Runner: Black Lotus”) giving the proceedings an undeniable cinematic polish.” This is hands down a beautiful movie to look at.

Hasan pointed out, “Yet, when the credits roll, one can’t help but come away feeling like we were running on a treadmill for a little over two hours. Sure, you got your steps in, but you haven’t gotten anywhere. Where the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy drew at least some of its appeal from how it wound inexorably toward a very definitive conclusion, “The War of the Rohirrim” instead signals the studio’s intent — like the song sung by wizard Gandalf in “The Fellowship of the Ring” — that the road goes ever on.”

Tolkien’s fantasy world is always worth rewatching, and that makes “The War of the Rohirrim” worth seeing even if it doesn’t amount to much in the end once you look past the obvious visual style. Hasan ended his review by saying, “After a lot of sturm and drang about wounded honor, burned villages and oh, so many charging armies, there’s nothing beyond the familiarity to justify its existence. It just seems to serve as a placeholder for other “Lord of the Rings” branded offerings ready to clog up the production pipeline.”

I’m sorry guys, but this film is a huge disappointment to filmgoers and “The Lord of the Rings” fans. This has nothing to do with anything else related to this franchise. With so many grudges, battles, war fights, and bloodbath, this does not classify as “The Lord of the Rings.” I can see why there aren’t that many showtimes left in the theaters, despite the fact that this just got released. Save your money and don’t see this in the theaters. If you want to wait until this comes out on streaming, go ahead.

Thank you for joining in on this review. Stay tuned tomorrow for the continuation of “Disney Month 2024.”