When it comes to expansions of The Lord of the Rings franchise, I’m much more inclined to embrace The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim than The Hunt for Gollum. At this stage of Hollywood’s IP era, studios have become so fearful of upsetting fandoms that new movies and shows treat the old ones like holy texts. The more familiar ground is retreaded, the more the bowing intensifies. An anime telling a self-contained story from two centuries before The Lord of the Rings gives me more hope than a live-action film set in the middle of Fellowship.

Your changes have been saved My List My Favorite MoviesMy Watchlist Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.Director Kenji Kamiyama Release Date December 13, 2024 Studio(s) New Line Cinema , Warner Bros. Animation , Sola Entertainment Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Runtime 134 Minutes Expand

I welcome Andy Serkis to prove me wrong in 2026. For now, though, I’m happy that Rohirrim director Kenji Kamiyama did his best to prove me right. If I bumped occasionally on references to the original that did not seem wholly necessary, I was mostly pleased to see this movie had the opportunity to be its own thing, and that the filmmakers took it. It’s a strong, engaging story that showcases some striking animation, and if I am to return to the wider world of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth, this seems to me an ideal way to go about it.

The War Of The Rohirrim Uses Familiarity To Its Advantage
Without Going Out Of Its Way To Subvert Expectations

The War of the Rohirrim establishes itself to us as part of an oral storytelling tradition: Éowyn (Miranda Otto), the unforgettable heroine from Jackson’s trilogy, introduces us to Héra (Gaia Wise), another fierce daughter of Rohan. We are told that though Héra accomplishes many great things, her story won’t be found in any written record. Cynically, both these choices are some clever franchise management – an original star returns via voiceover and the script nods to the protagonist being unnamed in Tolkien’s Middle-earth histories.

But the filmmakers wisely use this framework to give their movie a real identity. Éowyn’s opening calls attention to the unheralded roles of women in (as the franchise calls them) the Kingdoms of Men, which Kamiyama takes up as a running theme. Beyond that, it places Rohirrim in a legendary register, and legends work in patterns. Any straightforwardness of story or character becomes a feature, not a bug, and any echoes of stories we know feel intentional and resonant.

Even if the specifics elude us, we intuitively know the rhythm of the story that will follow, but that doesn’t make it any less engaging.

Héra is a good deal wilder than Éowyn when we meet her. Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), her father and Rohan’s mighty, aging King, has afforded her a level of independence bordering on scandal. But, as the familiar story goes, her desire for freedom is about to butt up against royal duty. At a gathering of Rohan’s bannermen in Helm’s halls, Freca (Shaun Dooley), an ambitious lord of the wild Dunlendings, confronts the King with a rumor: Helm intends to marry Héra off to one of the sons of Gondor, solidifying a tenuous alliance with the great kingdom to the south.

This, of course, comes as a surprise to Héra. As does Freca’s offer that she instead marry Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), his son, and her childhood friend. Privately, she tries to let him down easy; she has no intention of marrying whatsoever. But Freca is more transparently trying for the throne, and Helm suggests they take it outside. The Dunlending’s overconfidence proves fatal. After landing a series of undefended blows and hurling insults, he is accidentally killed by the enraged King, with a single punch.

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This proves the titular war’s inciting incident. Wulf, who tries immediately to avenge his father, is banished from Rohan, and years pass with no trace of where he ended up. But in that time, he’s built an army of wild men and mercenaries to take his revenge. He’s coming not only for the throne, but for Helm, his sons Hama (Yazdan Qafouri) and Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright), and, of course, the woman who scorned him.

This Anime Adaptation Puts Its Visual Style Front & Center
And Tells Its Story As Well As It Needs To

Tolkien based his world of Middle-earth on Norse, Celtic, Old English, and Welsh mythologies, and The War of the Rohirrim taps into just the right tone to feel aligned with that tradition. Even if the specifics elude us, we intuitively know the rhythm of the story that will follow, but that doesn’t make it any less engaging. For me, at least, it meant I could give myself over to the tragic lows and triumphant highs more easily.

Given the franchise element, there were undoubtedly limits applied to character and production design… But Kamiyama works within those boundaries to deliver beautiful, impactful images that further key themes.

Héra is a born hero, smart and courageous, and it’s only the strictures of her world that hold her back. Wulf, meanwhile, is a made villain – having known him as a boy, Héra struggles to accept who he has become. This conflict creates the conditions for change, and her rise mirrors not only Éowyn’s in The Lord of the Rings, but Wulf’s descent. As fun as it can be to subvert expectations, embracing more traditional arcs for the pro- and antagonist just feels right for this film.

Outside of story mechanics, The War of the Rohirrim executes well. Its strongest asset, as you’d hope, is the animation. Given the franchise element, there were undoubtedly limits applied to character and production design, and the movie does look like an anime take on the world of Jackson’s films. But Kamiyama works within those boundaries to deliver beautiful, effective images that further key themes. The grandeur of the live-action movies becomes mythic tableaux I could easily imagine woven into a tapestry and hung in Edoras’ great hall.

The voice performances are all sturdy enough to hang the movie on, though only Cox left a lasting impression. He gives Helm Hammerhand the kind of richness and power that sells him as a figure who will be remembered in song. I would’ve liked to see similar depth in the other principal performances, but there’s nothing that detracts from the experience in the moment, only the film’s ability to linger with time.

Even so, The War of the Rohirrim is a film I would happily go back to. If Warner Bros. is to continue milking this property for all it’s worth, as they undoubtedly will, I hope they continue to take this approach, ideally with less of a mandate for callbacks. It would be nice to see more animators get the chance to filter this and other franchises through their imaginations.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim releases in theaters nationwide on Friday, December 13. The film is 134 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for strong violence.

ProsGoes about expanding a franchise the right wayTaps into oral tradition to tell a compelling, self-contained storyAnimated beautifully and spotted with striking images ConsOccasionally weighed down by ties to Peter Jackson’s LOTR filmsVocal performances are more serviceable than memorable