The Lord of the Rings:
The War of the Rohirrim

4 outta 5

As a cinematic return to the world of Middle-Earth, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an interesting experience. This is not the first time the world of J.R.R. Tolkien has been in an animated form, there are some, uh, really unique animated film adaptations decades ago, although this is not an adaptation of the LotR novels. Well, technically, it is a giant extrapolation from the appendices at the end of Lord of the Rings, basically an all-new story set before the adventures of Frodo and Bilbo and Company. Also, one of the reasons this movie was made was so the studio, Warner Brothers, could hold onto the film rights for Lord of the Rings as they need to have a movie out about every 10 years (LotR in 2001, 2002, 2003, Hobbit 2012, 2013, 2014). If one were being uncharitable, it could be seen as a cynical rights holding exercise in a cheaper medium of animation to keep the series. But if one views this as a distinctive looking Middle-Earth experience with some cool visuals and nifty battles, it is a fun watch.

In the Kingdom of Middle-Earth, there is the King of Rohan, and Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) rules with his sons and his beautiful daughter, Hera (Gaia Wise). She has attracted the attention of Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), but Wulf’s father demands that Hera marry his son. He engages the King in a battle, and Helm quickly, and somewhat accidentally, murders the man, and banishes Wulf from the land. Years pass and the dastardly Wulf returns with an army wanting to take over the kingdom. Helm doesn’t want his daughter anywhere near the battle, but things don’t turn out well for the King of Rohan. Soon they settle into a winter-long siege against Wulf and Helm has been driven near mad with grief. And eventually if Hera wants to save her people, she may have to take the fight to Wulf personally.

The animation has the distinct stylistic flourishes of Japanese anime, mostly in the character designs and the static frame rate. But the somewhat less fluid animation does sort of make it look like a waving tapestry, telling a story from Middle-Earth. Hera is kind of a cobbled together anime princess, complete with a distinct look. There are lots of nicely composed dynamic shots that have an anime vibe. There is one bit where a beast has been possessed by a magic sickness and goes on a rampage, which is very much like something that happens in the iconic anime, Princess Mononoke. But if one is going to steal, might as well steal from one of the best anime films ever. Also, the film has the style of Peter Jackson’s Rings movies, complete with the same title cards, introductory music, and narration. In this case, the narrator is Miranda Otto providing voiceover as Eowyn, a character she played in the Lord of the Rings films. As this movie is set primarily in her character’s homeland, it makes sense she would be narrating a tale about her region’s history. Rohan evokes the feel of Jackson films, even ending key art and a dramatic song over the credits. Even Hera gets a little sidekick who remarkably resembles Samwise Gamgee.

There’s a hellova lot of personal tragedy that the King of Rohan goes through, although people usually go through a lot of tragedy in LotR movies but usually they make it out on the other end okay. But Hammerhand loses his sons and eventually his mind to grief, and Hera just has to kind of sit there and watch. The bit when Hammerhand goes all crazy and kills the attacking army in their camp basically turns the movie into a horror movie where he is like a demon, striking people down in a snowstorm. The War of the Rohirrim does have a cameo of a rather important White Wizard and name dropping another iconic Rings wizard. Also, there is a scene of some Orcs collecting random rings that is a not-so-subtle way to tell the audience they are watching a Lord of the Rings adventure.

The bad guy in this film is basically a nasty little despot who wants Hera as his bride, and he doesn’t have any magic powers or is even connected to the larger story of the darkness of Sauron. He is a cheater who goes back on his word, slays his sidekicks, and lies to his minions to get them to siege the castle, and Pasqualino makes him sound nasty. Wise as Hera delivers a good vocal performance with a lot of different shades of emotions and Cox is always dependable, sounding loud and bombastic. There are a few cool battles here, like when Hammerhand is having a final battle in a snowstorm and the result is he’s basically a defiant icicle.

Even though The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was probably just greenlit to come out in time and animation is cheaper than live-action, this is enjoyable. It does get incredibly chatty at times, and as it is about the wars of men, there is a distinct lack of Middle-Earth beings like Hobbits and Elves. But when everyone just shuts up and it provides spectacle, it feels like a piece of the Lord of the Rings series.