The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM! 

A DECENT ATTEMPT AT BRINGING ANIME INTO THE WORLD OF MIDDLE-EARTH! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. ANIMATION AND NEW LINE CINEMA

Princess Héra in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

 

            The world of J.R.R. Tolkien returns to the screen in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a new anime feature film in the Lord of the Rings series serving as a prequel to both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit storylines. This wouldn’t be the first time Middle-Earth was brought to life in animation form as there were already animated film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi and The Hobbit and Return of the King by Rankin/Bass in the late-70s and early-80s which aren’t quite as remembered much as Peter Jackson’s glorious live-action trilogy from the 2000s, but they have their fans. 

            I really like Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy though I’m not obsessed with it like a lot of other people are, but I’ve seen both theatrical and extended versions of the films many times throughout my life. I see them as incredible fantasy movies that are among the best of its genre with captivating stories, memorable characters, and amazing battle scenes and special effects; many of which still hold up today. 

            His Hobbit trilogy on the other hand is pretty inferior to the first trilogy, but they are still perfectly watchable movies with some impressive moments. Essentially like what the prequel trilogy was to Star Wars, but for Lord of the Rings and like that, I personally don’t have any super extreme reactions towards them, but I digress. 

            Now, we have this anime prequel film directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Akira, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and produced by the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies director himself, Peter Jackson (The Frighteners, King Kong (2005), District 9) which I was genuinely curious about when it was first announced. How has there not been an anime based on The Lord of the Rings, series or movie until now? Especially since the worlds Tolkien created in his original books and Jackson with the film trilogy and their storylines are perfect for Japanese animation and practically lend themselves to the art form. 

            Well, after seeing The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim I can say it is an admirable effort at bringing the Lord of the Rings world to life in anime form, but it isn’t perfect. 

            The film is set over 100 years before Bilbo Baggins discovered the One Ring and follows Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox-Braveheart, X2: X-Men United, Zodiac), a legendary and powerful king of Rohan who gets into a brutal scuffle against a rivaling lord that ultimately ends with the latter getting killed. Now, the son of the fallen Dunland lord named Wulf (voiced by Luke Pasqualino-Skins, The Musketeers, Our Girl) seeks revenge against Rohan with his childhood friend-turned-enemy and Helm’s rebellious daughter, Héra (voiced by Gaia Wise) standing in his way who will stop at nothing to protect her people and do what is right for her kingdom. 

            The film also features the voices of Miranda Otto (The Thin Red Line, Annabelle: Creation, Talk to Me) reprising her role as Éowyn who also narrates the movie, Lorraine Ashbourne (Child 44, Breathe, Blinded by the Light) as Olwyn, Shaun Dooley (EastEnders, Misfits, Saltburn) as Wulf’s father Freca, and archival voice recordings of the late, Christopher Lee reprising his role as Saruman. 

            Overall, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an interesting addition to the Lord of the Ringsfranchise that effectively expands upon the world of Middle-Earth even if it doesn’t quite have the epic scale or emotional weight of Jackson’s original trilogy. I should also make it clear that I am no expert in the Lord of the Ringsmythos or lore so my feelings towards this film may differ from a Tolkien aficionado. 

            As far as this movie goes, I think it does a decent job at giving more world-building beyond the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films and exploring new stories within the movies’ universe. Kind of like what the Harry PotterFantastic Beasts films and Star Wars movies like Rogue One and Solo started to do, but stopped abruptly and I hope this won’t be the end of anime LOTR expansion movies. 

            Nothing will ever top Jackson’s original trilogy (I haven’t seen the Rings of Power series on Prime Video yet though I’ve heard it’s good), but if you’re going to continue the Middle-Earth storyline beyond the six movies, this is the way to do it I think. Prequels and side-stories set before or during the main quest that expand upon the established world even if I feel this film’s plot is pretty generic. 

            It’s a typical rivaling clans fighting each other in a war set-up with conflicts between two friends turned enemies that’s been done several times before especially in fantasy. I appreciate that the movie isn’t trying to go big like the Peter Jackson trilogy, but compared to the plots in those it does feel lesser and not as engrossing as the earlier films. 

            With the exceptions of Héra, Hammerhand, and Wulf, I also don’t think the characters are that memorable especially compared to the original trilogy or even the Hobbit trilogy. Most of the side characters just feel like cookie cutter versions of characters from previous Middle-Earth films and I wasn’t all that attached to them, maybe if this film was longer or better paced it would have given the characters more time to be more fleshed out and endearing. 

            I actually found myself getting invested in Héra and Wulf’s scenario and seeing the events that led them across their destined paths unfold. Héra’s character in this movie is often compared to Nausicaa and yeah, I can totally see it because of her desire to prove herself and the lengths she’ll go to protect her people. 

            I think Wulf is one of the most unique antagonists in the entire Lord of the Rings franchise as he’s not some power-hungry warlord or demonic eye that tries to cause destruction, his motives are actually very justified and you do sympathize with him at various points. He wants revenge on Rohan for the king killing his father in a brawl and sure, I don’t really agree with his methods for achieving his goal, but I understand why he’s doing it. 

            The animation is gorgeous and looks great on the big screen especially the backgrounds, the animators did a stellar job bringing Middle-Earth to life in anime form. There are a few moments where the animation is choppy during some battle scenes, but for the most part it looks spectacular. 

            The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a lesser entry in the Lord of the Rings film series, but it’s a decent expansion to its universe with plenty of fan-service for the Tolkien enthusiasts. It may not be a grand quest, but hopefully it’ll be a starting point for future movies that expand upon the world of Middle-Earth and tell more stories beyond the One Ring.