It is said that all of Middle-Earth knows the tale of the War of the Rings, but there are older tales. If they’re all like The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim though, then I can see why everyone prefers the story about the rings.
The last time I watched The Lord of the Rings was more than a decade ago, and I went into this premiere not knowing who or what the Rohirrim was, nor remembering which elf Arwen is.
Luckily, this one is a legacy prequel, so there’s no homework to be done. That being said, anyone who’s seen the original trilogy will remember it being jam-packed with epic scenes like Gandalf’s fight against the Balrog and the Battle of Helm’s Deep. But even without comparing this entry to any of its predecessors, you’d still be hard pressed to pick more than a couple of scenes you could truly call memorable.
The opening sequence of this animated film might’ve set my expectations way too high, and not just because it’s an aerial shot. To call the art and animation of the first few minutes “immersive” would be an understatement, because I genuinely thought I was watching an animated eagle superimposed against a backdrop of 4k footage of a snowy mountain range.
Unfortunately, you soon start to notice its many imperfections. First, the characters’ mouth movements often don’t match the dialogue, which is jarring given the quality of the art. It actually made me wonder if I was watching a dubbed version, though I wouldn’t have complained because the main characters boasted some of the best voice acting I’ve heard in an English-language animated film. I’m talking Avatar: The Last Airbender-level good.
All the actors deliver their lines naturally without sacrificing dramatic effect. Most riveting were the vocal performances of Luke Pasqualino and Brian Cox, truly bringing their respective characters of Wulf and Helm Hammerhand to life. It’s just a shame that the animators couldn’t seem to keep up.
I wish I could say the lip syncing was the only problem with the animation, but at times it looked a little stiff and awkward. At one point, a character just looks like he’s wiggling his body as he speaks. It’s especially egregious when some moments in the otherwise-stunning fight scenes appear choppy and lack fluidity.
This isn’t to say that the film isn’t well-animated, because it’s visually beautiful overall, and the Japanese art style isn’t at all dissonant with the genre or franchise. It’s actually quite fitting, allowing characters to express their emotions almost as well as they would in a live action adaptation.
The problem is that this film being animated doesn’t add enough. For example, while the all the fight scenes are solid, tense and well-choreographed, it still leaves you wanting more since animation normally allows artists to push the boundaries of reality a little in terms of depicting movement and action. It says a lot about the limits of the writers’ imaginations when the live action movies contained more improbable action sequences than this one does. It’s not that the film doesn’t have them at all, it’s just that the directors don’t take maximise the potential of the medium, which is shame given that the anime industry routinely shows us what can be accomplished with a much lower budget.
This puts the film in a weird spot, because while it isn’t bad or unenjoyable by any means, it also doesn’t have anything unique that makes it a must-watch for The Lord of the Rings fans or enjoyers of animation. The chemistry between the characters also leaves much to be desired, for you’d be disappointed if you went in expecting the same level of banter or humour as in the original trilogy. Their emotional arcs still come through, but they’re arguably not complex enough to make them particularly endearing to audiences. This unfortunately applies to the protagonist as well.
The War of the Rohirrim is not without its merits, however. Despite mostly predictable plot points and character arcs (you can even predict their next line sometimes), the story is anything but boring, and the dialogue is exactly what you’d want from a high fantasy film. The narrative is tightly written and well-paced, with tension and emotional exchanges strategically situated and bolstered by a spellbinding soundtrack.
Best of all, the third act of the film brings an unexpected but welcome development, culminating in a truly epic scene that will no doubt be one of the most watched The Lord of the Rings clips on YouTube in a couple of months.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is out now.
Review up by Muhd Muhaimin