The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Directed by: Kenji Kamiyama
Premise: An animated film. Set nearly 200 years before the War of the Ring, King Helm (voice of Brian Cox) defends his throne against the army of a vengeful lord. Helm’s daughter Héra (voice of Gaia Wise) must lead her people to safety.
What Works: The War of the Rohirrim is a prequel to the existing live action Lord of the Rings films; Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens have producing credits, Miranda Otto reprises her role as Eowyn, Howard Shore’s score is repurposed, and the locations recreate the settings of Jackson’s films. As a prequel, The War of the Rohirrim serves to flesh out and deepen the background. In Jackson’s films it is evident that there is longstanding animosity between the royal houses. The War of the Rohirrim fills in the backstory and it enhances the exposition of the existing films. In that respect, The War of the Rohirrim adds value to the overall Lord of the Rings story by enhancing the meanings of these characters and locations.
What Doesn’t: The animation of The War of the Rohirrim is rooted in anime which has a very specific visual style. Even allowing for that technical and stylistic approach, the animation of The War of the Rohirrim is at best uneven. The wide landscape shots are extraordinary but the characters are not very expressive. The visual style omits a lot of facial detail and the posture and other nonverbal qualities of the characters lack subtext. Most of the characters come across flat. Movement is frequently a problem. The background and the subjects don’t look like they occupy the same space. The War of the Rohirrim has plenty of action but it’s not very engrossing. Some of that is due to the animation style but the story also lacks tangible stakes. The invading army intends to take over and kill the king and his family but none of these people are particularly interesting or empathetic. King Helm is a violent and harsh ruler and so there is little reason to care if he is deposed or not. The War of the Rohirrim is an average medieval sword and shield adventure, relying on a lot of stereotypical character types and dramatic scenarios we often see in these kinds of movies. It lacks the fantastical elements that distinguished other Middle Earth stories.
Disc extras: In theaters.
Bottom Line: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is only likely to appeal to Ringers who are invested in Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth films. It’s an interesting addendum to that series of movies but on its own The War of the Rohirrim underwhelms.
Episode: #1028 (December 22, 2024)