On the spur of the moment (horse pun) and because I was ambushed (war pun) by the release – despite knowing it was due – I went to see The Lord of the Rings -The War of the Rohirrim at my local Vue cinema.
Previously, I had written about the creative decision to name Hera Hammerhand, upgrading her from Tolkien’s notes.
I also said Miranda Otto would reprise her iconic role as Éowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, which she did and didn’t. It wasn’t that Éowyn in the action.
The War of the Rohirrim – the Good
This felt like Tolkien, and it left like Peter Jackson’s movies.
The animation was gorgeous, and the opening sequence was exceedingly clever and breathtaking.
I’m a busy person who sacrifices sleep. I know that’s bad, and it also means I’m at risk of falling asleep in the comfortable seats Vue Cinemas provide. Therefore, I was thankful that The Lord of the Rings -The War of the Rohirrim got into action at the appropriate speed.
If I had to contrast The War of the Rohirrim with Rings of Power, it would be with the pacing.
The characters in the anime all felt believable, including the larger-than-life, blood-of-the-ancients Helm Hammerhand. I especially liked how he lived up to his name, and he showed us why epics are told about him across Middle Earth. Importantly, Hera also felt real. I’m quick to be annoyed by characters and had no problems with the main character here. Yes, that’s quite an upgrade – from a nameless footnote to a lead hero.
The plot arch pans out, there’s a suitably dramatic end and then the wrap-up legend setting scene doesn’t take too long.
The War of the Rohirrim – the Bad
The Rohirrim are excellent horseriders, but I noticed early that we had scenes in which our heroes were toppled from their horses. There’s even one in the last third in which people made bad choices of mount.
Uh-oh, and once I noticed that, I couldn’t help but niggle at plot holes. I’m nitpicking, but the Rohirrim have archers, and we’ll never know whether the big bad was in range in one dramatic scene because despite all the time in the world – none of them took the shot. Perhaps the Rohirrim’s tactics were limited to cavalry because they made no effort to build a large bow and try to hit wooden siege equipment with flaming arrows.
I’m still nitpicking, but I have some weird audio issues with the anime. I watched an English sub and dubbed movie, and that’s no problem. It was even helpful when the subtitles told me what the battle cries said and what sounds could be heard in the woods – because I couldn’t tell. However, modern practice is also to describe the music. Dramatic music, the subs would say, or sombre music, or mysterious music, and to me, it all sounded the same!
My main audio problem, though, comes from years of British brainwashing. TV has taught us to associate certain accents with certain roles. There’s a typical accent a farmer character will have, a prescribed accent for the cocky comedy sidekick and another for the friendly family man. I’m Scottish, and I’m even further north than the part of the country the English would call ‘The North’. To my ears, some of the so-called tough warriors, especially Wulf, sounded like the ‘soft Southerner’ trope, the sort of character to wind up as the dad-bod Doctor Who sidekick. It was disconcerting, but I doubt a Japanese/American project cares very much about what Scottish ears associate with some of the characters.
Overall
I enjoyed The Lord of the Rings -The War of the Rohirrim and was pleased with the plot and the characters.
Yes, I know I’ve moaned about plot holes, but those are specks on a much larger canvas.
I’m glad I got to watch The Lord of the Rings, with new material, on the big screen again. It has me back in the mood for LotR fandom merch, including this silly Hobbit-hole-in-my-chest sweater and not silly at-all collectible map coin. I suspect, though, that neither will be in stock by the time the Boxing Day sales hit, and that’s likely due to the success of this anime.
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