The Lord of the Rings is a franchise with a lot of heavy baggage. Peter Jackson brought to life the impossible - a world where magic feels grand, epic but also grounded and medieval in a way. Middle-Earth is an epic, sprawling world where giant eagles roam the skies, mammoth elephants go to war with orcs and demonic spirits roam small hamlets. All of which are mentioned or thereof in a brand new film set in this universe. We may have had an Amazon show showcasing the early days of Mordor and Sauron, but Warner Bros. has decided to bring the universe we knew back to the big screen. Peter Jackson’s stamp is all over this film, his legacy and tone is there but there is a twist, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is animated in old-school 2D fashion based on Japanese animé and directed by Kenji Kamiyama.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an epic addition to the franchise, where the animation doesn’t hold the filmmakers and talent back at all, in fact it helps to expand this world in ways you wouldn’t get in live-action. The story is set years before Bilbo Baggins obtains the one ring to rule them all. Sauron is never mentioned and instead we are treated to the story of Helm Hammerhand and how the fortress of Helm’s Deep got its name. There is a lot of action and the story is centred on Helm’s daughter Héra, a worthy warrior honouring the Hammerhand name, and we learn about the feud between them and the Dunderlings, lead by Wulf, a male warrior roughly the same age as Héra.
Héra is a sparky character in which she is strong willed, shows strong leadership skills and also has an intuitive mind and great instincts. She has a connection to the great eagles of the land and she has a nurturing side to her too. Her soft voice is lent by actress Gaia Wise with Brian Cox providing a rather stoic voice to the more mythical natured persona of Helm Hammerhand. Both of which do great jobs at bringing gravitas and pathos to their characters as they experience tragedy after tragedy. In fact the story is very well written and feels like a painting brought to life. I was personally very surprised how immersive the film really felt.
There are not many negatives to talk about when it comes to The War of the Rohirrim. The story isn’t as vast as the others in the franchise with the focus mainly on the singular character of Héra, who is a captivating character with a lot of depth. You do miss the large cast of characters and wish to learn more about the villain, Wulf, and more about Helm Hammerhand too. This isn’t about them though and the story does have narration which gives the film an almost storybook, fable-like feel to it which works well with the animation format.
The animation itself is like something out of a Studio Ghibli film, with that epic vastness, attention to detail and fantastical creatures brought to life in unexpected ways. Kamiyama definitely brings his style to this film and it shows and does the film wonders. It reminds you how the Spider-Verse films felt distinctive from the live-action films. The Howard Shore themes from the franchise are also interspersed with the film which hits you like a wave of nostalgia. The end result is a mixture of something old and something new. The locations and world building is the same but the story feels unique and different.
★★★★☆
4/5
Final Verdict:
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim may start off feeling like it's an unnecessary addition to the franchise, but it soon unfolds in an epic and nostalgic way where you just fall in love again with this world which is brought to life so beautifully in animated form. The spark of Middle-Earth is still there. The story has depth and the characters feel a little Shakespearean in some regards which just aids the experience in many ways. By the end of the film you’ll want to learn more about Héra and her adventures in Middle-Earth.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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