When considering how the Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings trilogy delivered on its fantasy elements in as grand a way as possible for a major theatrical release at the time, still holding its own up against other more recent films attempting to depict a similar sweeping nature, additional attempts to capitalize off of that same universe feels like a tricky prospect. Jackson’s own return to Middle-Earth with a trilogy of films based on The Hobbit was not met with the same universal praise. Now we have an anime film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. For a franchise that has already visualized something in live-action that would have been impossible decades prior, the notion of having the animation format continue the series legacy seemed intriguing. Unfortunately, while there are worthwhile elements, nothing about this film really feels put to the test in terms of delivering anything on the scale of what’s come before, and I question whether this really needed a theatrical release to begin with.
To clarify on that last point, while it is nice to see a new Lord of the Rings film in a theater (and with all of the money on screen in the unrelated Amazon series, The Rings of Power, I’d happily watch some of those episodes in the same format), little about this anime project from director Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) played for me as something we’ve been waiting to see on such a large canvas. If anything, given the way adaptation rights work, it ultimately felt more like an obligation to put this movie out for a wide release, as opposed to the next logical step for this iteration of The Lord of the Rings. In reality, the film does not feel so different from any of the above-average animated Batman films that Warner Bros. has been releasing direct-to-video recently, but with little impact.
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Do my somewhat speculative logical takes on the origins of this project make a difference in terms of the actual movie? Well, here’s what the story involves: Set 183 years before the events of LOTR, we see what happens to Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), a legendary king of Rohan, who must defend his kingdom against an army of men led by the ruthless Wulf (Luke Pasqualino). That said, the story’s main thrust comes from Hera (Gaia Wise), Helm’s rebellious daughter, who will also do all she can to defend her kingdom.
This film ultimately serves as an origin story for Helm’s Deep, the location for The Two Towers’s spectacular rain-soaked action climax. While there’s perhaps something nice about revisiting such a memorable location, that’s all this 134-minute animated film really amounts to. Sure, that means there’s a lot of battling featured, but to what avail when the stakes feel decidedly lower for a series that had once focused on the fate of the world and stopping evil from overtaking all that is good? This film’s substitute for those objectives speaks to some clear themes involving heroism, female empowerment, clashes of classes, and more. Still, these are familiar to other Tolkien adaptations already and not nearly as interesting this time.
Okay, but if one is not looking for the story to do anything all that innovative, what can be said about the push into anime? Sadly, not a lot. My anticipation for this film largely rode on what sort of genuinely exciting things Kamiyama and his team would do for this series in animated form extending beyond what’s possible in live-action. Apparently, “nothing” was the answer. That’s not said to be mean, and sure, the animation is often quite lovely to look at, but nothing presented in this film fell out of line from what Jackson’s films or any other live-action fantasy feature I’ve seen has been able to accomplish already. I found this to be the most disappointing aspect of The War of the Rohirrim. It’s not that I needed an approach suggesting the most abstract way of handling this material as possible, but to watch a major presentation I was hoping would impress me with unpredictable visuals and only witness the same sort of thing as ever, but animated, well, it was underwhelming.
There are admirable qualities here. As noted, while not ultra-stylish, the visuals are good enough. Composer Stephen Gallagher does his best to echo Howard Shore’s classic themes. And while most of the characters do little to stand out, Cox’s hot-tempered King Hammerhand was an absolute joy to watch. Matching his bravado with strength and honor, I was on board with all his character’s actions when it came to the pure cool factor this film affords him (One sequence relies on him using his bare fists against a dozen armed men, and it’s fantastic).
As with any animated feature, I’m sure tons of hard work went into designing this film and getting it out there for its big-screen debut. Based on what the film is up against when it comes to the series it is a part of, I just can’t say there’s much here that was delivered on in any better or more interesting way than I have seen in other iterations of The Lord of the Rings. As an animated fantasy action film, it has enough battles and other elements to satisfy someone not looking for anything too ambitious. That said, if not for ambition, what else is really the point of this endeavor? Perhaps I’ll head back to the Shire while those in charge try to figure that one out.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim opens in theaters and IMAX on December 13, 2024.
