Few films of the current century can claim to have the same-sized industry footprint that Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy has left on the industry. While many have tried, no other series of fantasy films has entirely captured the epic scale and impeccable attention to detail attached to the acclaimed films. Yet, there have been numerous attempts to breathe new life into the dormant series at various points, with even Peter Jackson himself trying to do so with the hit-and-miss The Hobbit trilogy. Even Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power prequel saga, while not directly connected to Peter Jackson’s films, is still very clearly trying to emulate the Academy Award-winning films that preceded it.

The timing of the latest quest to Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, certainly is intriguing. Not only is it the first theatrically released Lord of the Rings film in a decade, it’s also the first of several planned feature film spin-offs being developed by Warner Bros. Discovery and Peter Jackson. With a veteran anime filmmaker at the helm with Kenji Kamiyama, this unexpected animated journey successfully brings the visual spectacle of the beloved live-action films to the big scream…which makes The War of the Rohirrim’s shortcomings in its plot and characters all the more frustrating.

What Is ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ About?

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim takes place several hundred years before the events of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, thus making it the earliest chronological film in the franchise yet. Long before the “world of men” united to defeat Sauron once and for all, a deadly war breaks out when the Rohirrim King, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), kills the Dunlending chief, Freca (Shaun Dooley), in combat. Freca’s son, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), vows vengeance against Helm and his people, even if it means killing Helm’s daughter, Hèra (Gaia Wise). As Wulf’s bloodlust begins to consume him and the Dunlending armies, it becomes abundantly clear that Hèra may be the only person in Middle-earth who can stop him.

In addition to the obvious departure from the original films being the animated format, one of the most welcome changes of pace The War of the Rohirrim makes is making itself detached from the wider Lord of the Rings universe. With no Sauron to flee from or magical rings to cast out, the film gets the welcome opportunity to tell a much smaller-scale story in one of the most expansive fantasy worlds of all time. While its version of Middle-earth doesn’t feel quite as fleshed-out as other smaller-scale tales in big franchises such as Andor, War of the Rohirrim still feels firmly planted in its own plot of land.

Unfortunately, sometimes the film just can’t help itself. While 95% of the film focuses on Gaia and her part in the war, The War of the Rohirrim spends the other 5% throwing in some glaringly obvious fan service that feels entirely unnecessary. The details are a bit too entrenched in spoiler territory, but these sequences reek of studio interference, with execs likely worrying there wouldn’t be enough recognizable Lord of the Rings buzzwords and references. They’re not enough to fully detract from the film’s main narrative, but the central plot has its own problems.

‘War of the Rohirrim’s Beautiful Presentation Can’t Hide Some Glaring Story Problems

Next to Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is truly one of the most beautiful animated movies of the year. The anime stylization feels surprisingly fitting for the fantastical world of Middle-earth, and that goes double for the films’ sometimes jaw-dropping action sequences. One standout moment sees Hèra try to outmaneuver a voracious Oliphaunt, and it’s filled with a great sense of scale and some well-paced tension.

Watching a giant eagle soar through the skies is breathtaking, but the slow-paced and uninteresting story that makes up most of The War of the Rohirrim’s run-time is much less riveting. Even coming from a franchise that is well-known for its intricate worldbuilding and mountains of exposition, War of the Rohirrim spends far too much time telling instead of showing. Hearing Miranda Otto’s voice as Éowyn narrating the film is wonderful, but some key events in the film that probably should have been shown on screen are instead haphazardly breezed past in an exposition dump.

The story we do get to witness in between the impressive action scenes is typically populated by some pretty underdeveloped characters. The creative team giving a previously unnamed character a larger role in this universe is admirable, but Hèra feels far too one-dimensional for her own good, lacking the depth and complexity of a character like Éowyn from the original trilogy. Similarly, Wulf is a fairly unengaging antagonist, with his predictable revenge motivation only resulting in temper tantrums and poor creative decisions. The relationship between these two characters really should have been a key focus, but instead, it devolves into an uninteresting hero fighting an uninteresting villain. The rest of the supporting cast are also all pretty forgettable, with one key exception.

‘The Lord of the Rings’ Shouldn’t Learn the Wrong Lessons From ‘The War of the Rohirrim’
Image via Warner Bros

Where most of the film’s characters struggle to keep a by-the-numbers story afloat, Helm Hammerhand is the film’s shining light and is the easy highlight of the film. For one, Brian Cox gives far and away the most compelling performance in the entire film, with his booming voice commanding authority and presence. The character of Helm also feels like he’s the most developed, and he lives up to his name with some of the film’s best moments. Of all of War of the Rohirrim’s contributions to the franchise, Helm is likely going to be the fan-favorite of many.

War of the Rohirrim’s storytelling woes might mean this isn’t the epic return to Middle-earth that many Lord of the Rings fans may have been hoping for, but that’s not to say the film’s not without merit. In fact, Warner Bros. Discovery should be commended for giving a film like this a chance at a big-screen debut. The company has faced quite a bit of controversy for its treatment of projects like Batgirl and Coyote vs Acme, but their willingness to give a mostly self-contained anime adaptation of one of their biggest IPs is certainly a welcoming development.

The big fear I have is that the creative team and executives behind The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will learn the wrong lessons. Only time will tell how the film will be received now and in the future, but should it be something WBD wasn’t hoping for, there’s the concern that they’ll view such a shortcoming as the film trying something different with its animated format. Had this same animation team had a more audacious story to work with, we could be looking at the best Lord of the Rings film since Return of the King. Hopefully, that opportunity will arise, but for now, we have an undeniably beautiful but still frustratingly average entry into this prestigious franchise.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim comes to theaters on December 13.

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.ProsA vibrant and stunning animation style.Brian Cox’s spectacular performance as Helm Hammerhand.The grandiose action set pieces you would expect from ‘Lord of the Rings’. ConsA slow and predictable story with far too much exposition.The majority of the characters are severely lacking in development.Some groan-worthy and unnecessary connections to the previous films.

Your changes have been saved The untold story behind Helm’s Deep, hundreds of years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.Release Date December 13, 2024 Director Kenji Kamiyama Runtime 134 Minutes

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