THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM – AN INCONSEQUENTIAL MIDDLE EARTH PREQUEL

By Harrison J. Bahe

Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg–a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.

It is difficult to rate an animated film such as this, especially one that falls under the banner of anime as I am someone who doesn’t frequently watch anime. I mean, I’ve barely seen two or three Hayao Miyzaki films in my lifetime so I’m hard pressed to be the end-all-be-all of reviewing an anime movie. However, I am keenly tuned into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe having read the four seminal books and being an avid fan of the Peter Jackson’s directed films. So, that is what I’ll have to base this review upon.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a prequel that informs you about how the legendary stronghold of Rohan known as the Hornburg (seen in the epic battle in The Two Towers) came to be called Helm’s Deep. The film is essentially a high level fantasy level film with a round of cliched characters playing their parts well. The main character Héra serves as an early rendition of Eowyn who wants to partake in battles to save her kingdom but is consistently placed aside since she is a woman. There is the revenge driven villain with a bone to pick with an elderly king who murdered his father with a single punch. Then finally there is the elderly king who quite earns the nickname of Hammerhand with that killer blow that sets this medieval fantasy tale of war and revenge in motion. There is no denying that the stakes are understood and the battles that play out are understandable in its maneuvers. A point I feel should be noted since the battle logic of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was all over the place. The battlements in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy were understood and were visually stunning while the battles in The Hobbit trilogy were essentially controlled chaos with no prior understanding of the geography and layout of the battles. The War of the Rohirrim at least had that going for it.

Now to speak on the animation. There’s no doubt that the animation in the film is truly spectacular as it blends 2D hand drawn animation with 3D rendered animation. At times I felt the film even included moments of rotoscoping in which real life reference footage of action is painted over. I can’t confirm this but this is either a testament to the Japanese animators or even a nod to Ralph Bakshi’s take on Middle Earth with his animated film from 1978. I bet it might be the latter as some of the orc designs are clearly a callback to the designs of Bakshi. Unfortunately, the disadvantage of the anime style is that it works incredibly well with action but not so well with emotive dialogue driven scenes, of which this film has many. I suppose that comes down to a personal opinion but I’ve always felt that way about the anime style of animation. Sure, the action in the film looks great but the dialogue scenes always felt dull and lifeless. Which is an unfortunate take away from an animated movie such as this.

Rigid dialogue driven scenes and visually awesome action sequences permeate the film so, if you’re not an avid fan of the anime style of animation, then this film might not be for you. However, if you love all things Middle Earth such as I, then you may find some comfort in returning back to the world of Men, Wizards, Dwarves, and Hobbits; even if it’s through a unique medium. There is a sobering reality to the world of making movies. It’s the side of business behind the creative endeavors that either destroys the magic of movies or enables it. During my research of this film for this review, I discovered that the only reason this film exists is so that the intellectual property’s rights would remain with the holder for the sole purpose of producing and releasing the upcoming live action film The Hunt for Gollum. Do with that information as you will. Will there be another foray into the world of Middle Earth through the medium of anime? It’s hard to say. At the moment of writing this review, the film didn’t do spectacularly well, box office wise. However, there is a moment at the end of the film that hints at more adventures that could potentially happen in a sequel; more adventures with a certain “grey pilgrim.” So, who knows! It’s a beautifully animated film that tells a story about such an iconic location within Middle Earth but it remains inconsequential as it doesn’t particularly add anything to the wildly expansive mythos of Tolkien’s world which is why I give The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirri—

3.5 Horses out of 5

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is Rated PG-13 for Strong Violence. It is currently playing in theaters nationwide.