‘The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim’: Review

Dir: Kenji Kamiyama. US. 2024. 134mins 

The Lord Of The Rings franchise will get a much-needed jolt of feminist vitality with The Battle Of The Rohirrim, a prequel set almost 200 years earlier than the Oscar-winning live-action trilogy of the early 2000s. Whereas these earlier movies had been dominated by their male leads, this animation tells the story of a courageous princess who should rise as much as save her imperilled kingdom. 

Lacks the glimmering slickness of Hollywood animation

The brand new image principally avoids the legendary characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fable, fleshing out a collection of battles barely described within the books. The result’s an old style action-adventure replete with battle scenes and hearty proclamations resembling “We are going to paint the daybreak purple with the blood of our foes!” However the hand-drawn animation fashion has its limitations, and the movie’s central figures aren’t as magnetic as earlier than.

Warner Bros. unveils The Battle Of The Rohirrim on December 13 within the UK and US, the primary Tolkien movie since 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle Of The 5 Armies. Collectively, the three Hobbit movies and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy introduced in nearly $6 billion, so certainly there are quite a few followers nonetheless on this world. (Prime Video is at the moment streaming a prequel collection, The Rings Of Energy.) However even supposing Peter Jackson serves as government producer, The Battle Of The Rohirrim could seem too adjoining a property to muster comparable enthusiasm. Consequently, informal viewers could resolve to skip this mediocre stopgap and watch for the live-action The Hunt For Gollum, arriving in 2026 and directed by Gollum himself, Andy Serkis.

Right here, Gaia Clever voices Hera, whose father is Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), the mighty king of Rohan. Hammerhand needs to marry off his daughter, however she rejects the proposal of the seasoned warrior Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), a lifelong good friend who has all the time cherished her, insisting that she needs the independence to marry who she chooses — or in no way. Her refusal angers Wulf, resulting in a violent altercation that prompts Hammerhand to banish Wulf, who vows vengeance towards the king.

Director Kenji Kamiyama, who beforehand directed anime initiatives just like the 2017 movie Napping Princess, expands on a battle that was referenced within the appendices of Tolkien’s guide The Lord Of The Rings, turning it right into a two-hour-plus saga a few proud, ageing king and his free-spirited, underestimated daughter. Clever imbues Hera with a way of regal bearing, handily tackling the Tolkien-esque dialogue, which is earnest typically to a fault. (That stated, franchise followers will probably be relieved that the filmmakers have resisted any temptation to pepper the strains with jokey quips or modern perspective.)

From the primary second we see Hera driving her horse at prime pace throughout an open discipline, there is no such thing as a query she is destined for greatness, and The Battle Of The Rohirrim methodically dramatises how she makes the leap to fearsome fighter — regardless that her protecting father believes she ought to depart conflict to her strapping brothers.

The movie’s look, which contains hand-drawn photos and motion-capture, lacks the glimmering slickness of Hollywood animation. Certainly, the characters’ faces aren’t particularly expressive and their motions are jerkier than the norm. Presumably, Kamiyama needs to create an anime that feels timeless — possibly even a bit antiquated — as a way to recommend an historical story that has been misplaced to historical past. 

When the director phases large-scale battle scenes — of which there are a lot of — this method succeeds. (Nighttime conflict sequences lit solely by the fires of a burning fortress are notably placing, as are photographs of terrifying fantastical beasts each on land and in water.) However in dialogue scenes, the tasteless character design detracts from the drama. Satirically, that stiffness is much less troublesome throughout motion set items because it lends weary warriors like Hammerhand an nearly stoic grandeur.

Cox roars and bellows impressively as a quick-tempered king who foolishly believes no power can topple his kingdom, studying too late the treachery and cleverness of his vindictive foe. The movie tries to ascertain Hera and Wulf as tormented combatants — former buddies torn asunder as a result of she doesn’t reciprocate his love — however Pasqualino is hamstrung enjoying a one-note baddie.

Extra rewardingly, The Battle Of The Rohirrim gives a well-recognized however resonant message about feminine empowerment, arguing that Hera shouldn’t be dismissed as a frontrunner simply because she is a girl. Regrettably, such laudable sentiments are shortly undercut by a predictable late-reel tie-in to the bigger Lord Of The Rings collection, because the movie hints at the opportunity of future instalments that includes iconic franchise figures. Gender equality is all effectively and good, however apparently preserving and increasing the Tolkien model is a extra paramount concern.