Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the most acclaimed and successful fantasy trilogy of all time. The films helped define blockbusters for a generation and were a rare combination of box office success and positive critical reception, racking up Oscar nominations and wins throughout the three years the films released. The films are without a doubt New Line Cinema’s most successful franchise, which is saying something since they’re The House that Freddy Built.
But IP law in the United States requires holders of the rights to produce new films in order to avoid the rights lapsing. With several years having passed since the Hobbit films, New Line had to produce something new to keep hold of its darling. The idea of an anime adaptation of Tolkien’s work had apparently been floating around for several years, and this push to maintain rights resulted in fast-tracking that anime adaptation into production.
Thus comes, The War of the Rohirrim. Drawn from the appendices in The Lord of the Rings, the film tells the story of Helm Hammerhand and his daughter Hera as they deal with an internal struggle almost 200 years before Bilbo Baggins finds the One Ring. If any other studio or creative team had attempted it, the results likely would have been disastrous. Because Philippa Boyens was involved and efforts were made to recruit a tested anime director, Kenji Kamiyama, disaster was avoided.
The idea of adapting other parts of Tolkien’s legendarium in Middle-Earth isn’t an inherently flawed one. Tolkien’s world is rife with potential for other stories, and an anime adaptation is an admittedly unique way of expressing Tolkien’s world.
And the animated aspects are where this film really shines. Kamiyama and his team of animators did a lovely job of bringing Middle Earth to life in anime form. Designed to be in continuity with the Jackson films, the animated recreation of locations such as Edoras, Helm’s Deep, and Isengard are lovely to behold. And while the aesthetic can feel off at times, the creation of new costumes and designs also work, with the uniforms for Rohan’s military officers being especially stand-out. The film stands as a proof of concept for further anime adaptations of Tolkien, though there are some admittedly janky instances of the 2D characters and 3D backgrounds not quite working together.
Unfortunately, The War of the Rohirrim falls into many of the traps that have caused other legacy sequels, prequels, and IP mines to stumble. The creators are so afraid of standing on their own that they over-rely on familiar parts of the story and end up feeling derivative. Such is the issue with this film, with a multitude of lines and moments serving as callbacks to the Jackson trilogy. There are two scenes where nearly every line is an allusion to a well-known line from the Jackson films, and it becomes quite irritating and silly. The film’s blunt origin of the naming of Helm’s Deep is especially cringe-worthy, as is a decision to refer to Gandalf.
The characterization and storytelling are also rather rote. The film’s main characters of Helm, Hera, and Wulf are all reduced to one or two primary traits. The central conflict feels quite simplistic, and while there are fertile grounds for themes of legacy, love, and duty, they are left untilled, making for a dull harvest. These characters aren’t bad per se, just simply uninteresting. Hera can’t help but feel like a less interesting retread of Eowyn, especially with Miranda Otto providing occasional narration.
Likewise with the plot. While Tolkien diehards may appreciate seeing historical skirmishes brought to life, and while doing so could be fruitful, it is all so straightforward as to lack intrigue. The main stakes and plot choices are established in the first thirty minutes, and nothing surprises afterward. There are no twists or turns or sense of rising and falling action. The second half of the film feels like a rough approximation of The Two Towers in too many ways.
While The War of the Rohirrim isn’t a unenjoyable experience, it is a film that left a lot on the table. If it had focused less on pulling 30,000 lines from the Jackson films and plugging in as many references as conceivably possible, and spent more time developing its characters and story, this might have been a much better film. It may temporarily satiate fans’ thirst for new Middle Earth material, but it won’t really quench it.
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