The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Last weekend, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the newest film in the Lord of the Rings franchise, was released in theaters. The War of the Rohirrim takes place 183 before the events of the original films and follows the great king Helm Hammerhand as he defends the people of Rohan from a traitorous lord of Rohan. The Lord of the Rings is my favorite trilogy of all time so obviously I was very excited to get a new installment in the franchise even though it is animated.

I thought this movie did a decent job of bringing viewers back to the world of Middle Earth. It was fun to see these familiar places again and see a new tale about Rohan. The movie also does a good job of capturing some of the epic nature and feel of the franchise. The music opens with the Rohan theme and brings me to a franchise I love. It was also fun to see another battle at Helms Deep. The story itself is very simple as it is just an epic about this conflict between these two leaders. However, at its core, this movie is a coming-of-age and hero's journey story for Hera. The center of the movie is also about her growth and becoming a leader of Rohan. By the end of the movie, the payoff of her journey is just so cool to see. I also thought the action sequences were very well done. Even in animation, they can somewhat capture the epic nature of these battles. Finally, I appreciate that they went for it in terms of the unique anime style. Instead of playing it safe, the franchise decided to do something different even though it risked turning fans away from the film.

Of course, the obvious holdback of this film is the animation style. While I can appreciate that they went for something different, the film just doesn't feel the same with the anime style. The film as a whole just feels cheaper and smaller than anything else in the franchise. While some of the epicness is there, it doesn't come anywhere close to the scope and scale of the other films. To put some perspective, The Return of the King was made 20 years ago and cost $90 million, while this movie only cost $30 million. Even with the span of animation, this anime style just doesn't feel as pristine as other animation styles such as Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks. The biggest thing hurting this film is the inherent comparison to The Lord of the Rings. It was never going to be as good as those films. But because the name is there, everyone is going to inevitably compare. If this were to be just a standalone epic about a battle at a mountainside fortress with no ties to Lord of the Rings, I think it would have worked much better. It would appeal to anime fans while not having to deal with the high expectations of Lord of the Rings fans. It works as a stand-alone film, but not as a Lord of the Rings installment.

Overall, for the story they were trying to tell, I think the movie is a decent enough epic. If you are watching this as an anime fan, I think you will enjoy it. However, I don't think it completely works as a Lord of the Rings story, while it does capture some of the feel of the franchise, the inherent comparison to the original trilogy was always going to be a roadblock for this film. View this film as an anime film set in the world of Middle Earth, not as a new addition to the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

Recommendation: Check it out if you are a Lord of the Rings or anime fan