The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim Review - Did we really need another LOTR film?

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim doesn’t even attempt to connect itself to the vast canvas already established for the franchise.

The Lord Of The Rings_ The War Of Rohirrim Review

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim: Plot

In Rohan (pronounced Ro-haan), the mighty King Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) is ruling a flourishing kingdom when he is challenged by a leader whom the King kills in combat. However, the leader’s son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) is spared, and he lives with one aim: to rule Rohan and kill Helm Hammerhand. Wulf once loved Héra (Gaia Wise), but they now stand at loggerheads, and Héra must save the people of Rohan, her father’s name, and herself.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim: Analysis

The J.R.R. Tolkien world of fantasy, the Elves, Hobbits, and Dwarves, is one that has captivated us for years now. On the scene, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy established this world in a way that it became a legacy that is unbeaten even to this day. There is an entirely new world blooming, keeping the first three movies as the foundation. In the last couple of years, almost a decade after the franchise had seen anything hit the screen, we have witnessed two seasons of a spin-off show titled The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. There is a new trilogy in the making, and now in theatres is an anime prequel to the main trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim. But the real question here is: did we really need a prequel to this world?

Just like House Of The Dragon, The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim is set 183 years before the story of the Elves, Hobbits, and the Dwarves began. In the world of Japanese anime legend Kenji Kamiyama, this is a world completely untouched by everything that means Middle Earth to us. Technically, everything you know about the Tolkien saga from the films is just referencing locations and artifacts. There is no concrete connection to the recurring world of the franchise. This takes away most of The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, which aspires to be a prequel to a franchise that an audience has thoroughly immersed themselves in. Nothing here feels, looks, or sounds like the Middle Earth we know, except for the Orcs, a few locations, Brian Cox, and Miranda Otto.

Created by Kenji Kamiyama, the anime prequel to LOTR begins with Miranda establishing how "All Middle-earth knows the tale of the War Of The Ring," but Helm Hammerhand and his daughter were left out of the tales and ballads in history. So they establish a story that is never told or spoken enough about in the universe. There are so many ways to take this shot through, but Kenji and his team choose the most obvious. You’ve seen this tale unfold so many times. You’ve seen someone come and save a kingdom at the last moment; you’ve seen the fantastical behavior of this world. So when Kenji and his team choose the simplest story to tell, they risk making everything look obvious.

Also Read: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2 Review: Beyond Sauron there is just endless season long build up 

That plagues The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, which never rises beyond certain limitations that its format brackets it into. There is no doubt the animation is beautiful; Kenji Kamiyama translates the emotions well, and there is precision in every illustration. But that doesn’t help you forget that this is very simple and doesn’t feel important to remember for the future of the franchise—or franchises, in this case. Everything is consequential to only this story and not the others that follow or already exist. This is where you ask, did we really need this prequel?

In a year where we’ve seen the second season of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power with eight hours of content, heard about a new trilogy, and now have The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, isn’t this an overdose of content? It might even cause the audience to withdraw because there’s just too much to see. While this anime prequel is good to look at and beautiful to witness, it doesn’t contribute much to the legacy because it’s not shaped to have an umbrella impact. And it’s okay for films to stand alone, but not in a universe where the world is so vast and possibilities so infinite.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim only throws references to rings and name-drops Mordor, Gandalf, and Saruman in a very lazy way. One wishes it connected itself more to the real conflict to make it feel like a true LOTR movie. As it stands, you could remove the Tolkien references and connect it to Game Of Thrones if you like.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim: Final Verdict

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim doesn’t even attempt to connect itself to the vast canvas already established for the franchise. It is too comfortable being detached and very pretentious when it tries to form a connection.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim releases in theatres on December 13, 2024. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.

Also Read: Is Amazon’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power connected to Warner Bros’ new LOTR trilogy?

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