A One Mann’s Movies review of “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (2024).
“The War of the Rohirrim” has a very clever trailer that makes you sit up and say “OMG… Peter Jackson has another live-actrion Lord of the Rings film coming out!!”. Then, sadly, the live action snippets from the original trilogy segue into an anime style of animation and you (or I, to be specific) went for a disappointed “Oh!”
Still, some LOTR is better than no LOTR isn’t it?
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” Plot Summary:
Set two centuries before the War of the Ring, Hera (Gaia Wise) is the headstrong and fearless only daughter of King Helm of Rohan (Brian Cox). But there is discontent in the land and he is visited by another Rohan Lord, Freca (Shaun Dooley), who Helm accidently kills. His son, Wulf (Luca Pasqualino), already spurned in courtship by Hera, vows vengeance on the court of Edoras.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate violence, bloody images, threat.”)
Talent:
Starring: Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luca Pasqualino, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Lorraine Ashbourne.
Directed by: Kenji Kamiyama.
Written by: Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou. (Story by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews & Philippa Boyens. Based on characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien.)
Running Time: 2h 14m.
“Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” Summary:
Positives:
- Hera makes for a solid, empowered female hero who is visualised very nicely.
- Once we get to Helm’s Deep, the pace picked up nicely for me.
Negatives:
- The animation was, largely, disappointing to me. It rarely soared.
- Bits of the story dragged for me.
Review of “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”:
Remember the superbly ‘out-there’ animation of the “Spider-Verse” movies?
I knew going in that this was directed by Kenji Kamiyama and so would be in a Japanese Anime style. But sadly, very little of the animation really shone for me. It was all a bit too “Scooby Doo” for my liking. I waxed lyrical about the ‘out-there’ sequences of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse“. Those films really took the animation gloves off and made you just go “Wow!”. (“Into” deservedly won the Oscar back in 2019.) There are glimpses of that in some of the scenes, where the animation gets more artistically creative. But they are mere snatches and I so wanted so much more of that.
Some of the animation – horseback-riding scenes for example – just didn’t work. I could achieve much the same by jiggling a picture of Hera on a horse up and down against a background. The end-titles talked about a technology called “Unreal Engine”: sadly, for me and taking it literally, it was employed a bit too much!
Pacing issues
I had a long and very busy day in London yesterday, so perhaps this is partly my problem. But I found the first half of the film a bit slow and dull, such that I found myself continually nodding off! Thankfully, when we get to the familiar territory of a siege at the Hornburg (soon to be renamed “Helm’s Deep”) the pace picks up and we end up with an exciting finale.
Hera today; gone tomorrow.
The story had very much the feeling of “Rogue One” about it for me: pulling out a female name in history and saying “this is what she did; this is how she was; and “she was like it ’til the day she died”. And as a character on-screen in an anime style, Hera works really well: strong, clever, commanding and sexy. (I was curiously reminded of Jessica Rabbit: “I’m not bad… I’m just drawn that way!”) At one point she dons a cool wedding dress to engage in hand to hand combat (as you do, being practical) and I thought – yep, that’s going to please the anime fan-boys!
The voice cast
I thought Gaia Wise’s voice perfectly suited the character too. And the unmistakenly gruff voice of Brian Cox rings out as Helm: he seems to manage to get through the whole film without saying “fuck”, so that’s a blessingI
Elsewhere in the voice cast there are some familiar names from the past – Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan (but, note, not as hobbits!) It’s also a nice touch that the narration of those events that happened “hundreds of years ago” is done by Miranda Otto; Eowyn from the original trilogy.
The only voice I didn’t get on with is Luca Pasqualino who voices the villain of the piece Wulf. It’s not his fault, but Pasqualino has, or at least his character has, a broad Northern accent and it just didn’t seem to blend at all with the other cast. “You will suffer as I have suffered” he goes, nasally, as if putting down a parking meter attendant in Bolton.
Blood, guts and glory
In keeping with the extended cuts of the original LOTR films, this is a “12A” and it’s that for a reason. Some of the “moderate violence” is at the high end of moderate, even taking into account that this is an animation. Limbs are severed; arrows puncture necks; and bodies are riven through with swords. Just worth bearing in mind if you are taking under-12 LOTR fans in to see it.
Trying too hard for the linkage?
My only final criticism is that the film tries too hard to position itself with the original trilogy. There is a rather clumsy introduction of two characters in the final few minutes which – given that this is supposed to be 200 years before the Ring – feels clumsy and unnecessary.
Monkey?
There is no monkey at the end of the credits. (You’re welcome). However, there is a lovely tribute to the late Bernard Hill during the end-credits: “Dedicated to the true king of Rohan – Bernard Hill, 1944-2024”.
Summary Thoughts on “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”
I welcome the idea of some extension stories set in Middle Earth. However, as I’m not a big fan of animated films in general, and particularly not ‘blocky’ animation like this, this movie left me feeling a little under-whelmed.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCUg6Td5fgQ.
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