The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim - Review Thread
- Rotten Tomatoes: 62% (29 Reviews)
- Metacritic: 59 (12 Reviews)
Reviews:
Although not hitting us emotionally on the scale of the live action films, Kamiyama has produced a visual landscape that at times , through use of motion capture, models, and hand drawn animation do register a striking visual motif, not what we have previously associated with the cinematic efforts at Tolkein, but a world of its own merged with more allegiance to Jackson than Tolkein.
Variety (60):
For those who can’t get enough of Middle Earth, here’s two-plus hours of deep-cut backstory to feed your appetite, centered around a siege at the stronghold that would come to be known as Helm’s Deep (where we saw Saruman’s Orcs obliterated by Ents in “The Two Towers”).
Hollywood Reporter (80):
Fans are sure to appreciate the call-outs and references to the earlier movies, including sections incorporating composer Howard Shore’s original themes and a late shout-out to Gandalf. But those not familiar with Tolkien minutiae will still be able to enjoy The War of the Rohirrim on its own visually grand, mythic storytelling terms, even if it does eventually seem overlong at 134 minutes (brief by comparison to the live-action entries, but still).
IndieWire (C-):
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is a paper-thin prequel that stretches a single page of Tolkien’s appendices into a 134-minute story of how the fortress of Helm’s Deep got its name (spoiler alert: it was named after a guy named Helm), I suppose we should be grateful that this limp and cheap-looking epic is bad in a few different ways than we’ve come to expect? At least it aspires to mine a fresh experience from the all too familiar tedium of watching Hollywood pick a franchise dry, even if it ultimately falls well short of that goal.
Polygon (80):
This attention to detail and reproduction is the movie’s greatest strength — The War of the Rohirrim looks and feels like Jackson’s LotR in the best way. It’s packed full of sword-swinging adventure, kingly drama and riveting monster mayhem. Unfortunately, it also reproduces the aspect of the Jackson movies that has aged most poorly.
TotalFilm (50):
What could have been an exciting experiment in telling a new tale in a beloved universe in a very different way feels heavily compromised. Kenji Kamiyama and his fellow anime veterans have produced great work before, but this uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien doesn't allow anyone to show off what they can do best.
SlashFilm (6/10):
If this is just the first of many spin-offs to come, we can only hope future efforts learn all the right lessons from "The War of the Rohirrim." So where does the franchise go from here? All I know is that it'd be a shame to let the riskiest "The Lord of the Rings" movie in years scare us right back to safer shores.
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” plays like a straight-to-video rush job that got a little out of hand, and now it has to play to a theatrical crowd that’s unlikely to forgive its many haphazard flaws. It’s hard to get mad at this movie, but it’s oh so easy to be disappointed.
Empire (3/5):
It never scrapes the heights of Jackson’s trilogy — few do — but amid a messy meeting of worlds, there are stirring moments.
Collider (6/10):
The animated trip to Middle-earth is an unexpected journey, but its subpar story and underdeveloped characters make it difficult to revisit there and back again.
IGN (6/10):
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a fascinating idea with a lackluster execution, more interesting as a concept than an actual retelling of one of Middle-earth’s famous legends.
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Directed by Kenji Kamiyama
Set 183 years before the events of the Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary king of Rohan, and his family as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings. Helm goes on to be the namesake for the stronghold Helm's Deep.
Release Date: December 13