#REVIEW: “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF ROHIRRIM”

Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong

Long before The Two Towers, there was another battle of good and evil waged at Helm’s Deep. Cut to princess Hera (Gaia Wise) at the top of a hill, gazing out at the majesty of Middle-earth. Our anonymous narrator notes that after her time, no one sang songs of her. A compelling riddle: if no one felt like writing a song about her, why make a feature film? Did she change her name? Was her story cut short? The answer, I’m afraid, is nowhere near as interesting as the question might have you think.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an anime-style excursion into Lord of the Rings history. The tone, texture, and style of Rohirrim feels of a piece with those cherished originals, but as an animated feature, it can approximate all of that rugged fantasy without spending even a quarter of the typical Rings budget. You’re getting Middle-earth monsters, castles, clothes. Everything but spells and magic, really. This is a story of warring families. Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), the mighty king, reigns benevolently. Wulf Dunlending (Luke Pasqualino), a decidedly bad guy with a grudge, wants to seize that power by any means necessary. When Hammerhand accidentally kills Wulf‘s father, the war is on, and not everyone’s going to make it to the final frame.

If Rohirrim sounds like an incredibly straightforward medieval-style war movie, that’s because it is. With a general lack of magic, and many of the aforementioned monsters basically doing the same job as a bunch of elephants and malnourished tall people, there’s a case to be made that this movie doesn’t even need to take place in Middle-earth. The heroes and villains are about as straightforward as the genre trappings, and Rohirrim feels quite content with staying in its lane. This isn’t necessarily a flat-out bad thing. If you’ve seen The Two Towers a dozen times and you want to go back to Helm’s Deep with a new Cast of characters, Rohirrim awaits. If you have an animated war movie itch, there are worse ways to spend two hours. Rohirrim held my attention for most of its runtime, but I left the theatre feeling relatively indifferent. This isn’t Game of Thrones. There’s no moral ambiguity of note. No serious political intrigue. This is good guys vs bad guys in an extensive war–winner take all.

Now I’m not a huge Rings guy, but I brought a fan with me. Does being more committed to Tolkien‘s world yield a better reaction? He actually liked it less than me. If you’re already planning on catching Rohirrim, I’m not here to dissuade you, but keep your expectations low. It’s a perfectly competent yarn, but let me reiterate: there’s a reason no one wrote a song about Hera.

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF ROHIRRIM Friday, December 13, 2024.