Set Two centuries before Bilbo Baggins meets Gollum and his ‘precious’, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is mostly an anime chapter that would be a pleasure to the fans of Tolkien, but also suffers from the same narrative problems which plague the modern movie adaptations. The battle of the heroic princess, that was supposed to be short, ends up being way more dragged out than it should have been. You feel the -134-22 minute mark and know you’re in for a wild trek. Cinemas have this format called a ‘roller coaster’. Yes, this film has a lot of slow bits and the 134 minutes are made to feel very long. Thank God, the wonderful graphics, great music, and the ever evolving characters tend to correct the pace of this movie’s numerous faults.
From the beginning ‘Lost Lady’ was a compelling heir to the daunting legacy of militant society. Characters like the King were supposed to be heroic in some way. Éowyn(Australian actress Miranda Otto) recounts the story of accomplish to whom such songs were never written which indeed deserves that and quite a chaos lady who owned herself to the fantasy was wild ‘Hera’(five actress and Gaia Wise). Although it appears that her father, King Helm Hammerhand (portrayed by Brian Cox), cares for his three youngsters seated next to him on the throne only during sudden guests, even so, the king’s expression is not quite happy. While Hamm is contemplating things, Wulf (portrayed by Luca Pasqualino) came along with Lord Freca (portrayed by Shaun Dooley), an enemy of King Hamm. Wulf here is surprisingly referred as the son of Freca, and the latter is somewhat known to be courageous. Freca is known to ponder if it is true that King Weaver promised her daughter’s hand to a Gondorian prince and that she shall not give it to Wulf. Such attitude only bestows devastation over Rohan. Such instances drew peaceful conflicts that spanned over thousands of years wide apart.
The War of the Rohirrim is a glaringly proper example of how women strive against a wall that is erected by men and then free-will stupidity makes that wall go up stronger and higher. The lotr verse would again be on the receiving end of those who hate girl power and probably hate women in general as why else would you complain. Hera, on the other hand, is bewildered, to say the least, to hear that she could be exchanged for a cow. Of course, that surprise carries itself through the extent of her pathetic objections. Unfortunately for everyone involved, and myself even as we tried to hold our breath, the entire outcome of Helm and Freca’s my-kilt-is-bigger-than-yours duel was worse than our worst nightmares. The specific call for arms begins then as the blood of battles is shed and the Rohirrim, equestrian warriors of middle earth start to splinter as the invasion of Rohan is at the starting phase.
Another masterpiece comes from renowned Japanese anime director Kenji Kamiyama (Ultraman, Ghost in the Shell, Star Wars: Visions). Or in the second, “Kamiyama Kenji”, often incorporated as part of an homage to Akira Kurosawa. Kamiyama works with several major studios such as Production I.G on Ghost in the Shell or Bee Train on Samurai Champloo. Kamiyama does not concede to pure hand-drawn combat but combines hand-drawn meshes with complex CGI battles. So That’s pretty neat. It is needless to say, all of the elements around Hera and her family as well as the flat heads who were giving trying to trick her in the first place was stunning. The anime style matches the close-ups, while Wider shots emphasize more detailed backgrounds constructed on computers. Everything appeared nice to look at, to say the least. Everything seems to be promising for all anime fans interested in this middle earth venture.
To comprehend the storyline and the roles of the characters in The War of the Rohirrim, one does not require the utmost knowledge of LOTR. Kamiyama and producer Philippa Boyens, who was a co-writer of both trilogies with Peter Jackson and was in charge of the story for this film, find a way of penetrating existing lore comfortably, with fans and amateurs alike. Fans and casual viewers are all on the same page regardless of how many movies of Tolkien these fans watched. They are important in the sense that they can be fitted in the such that fans will get the general picture of the entire LOTR history, but the fans do not really need to deal with them to grasp the other concepts. The movie does succeed as a standalone film with a target audience.
It beats me as to why the original trilogy along with the Prime video series has multiple scenes which shows a character just walking about aimlessly. The War of the Rohirrim suffers from the same problems as well. Why A to B takes so much time to traverse? What’s the point of staying in between in a single set for ages when it’s not necessary? An astounding second act battle is nearly spoiled by their pointless wait afterwards, which simply fills space. The time elongation of The War of the Rohirrim must be slashed by at least 20 minutes. A tighter/lighter cut would have made the film pure visceral joy. It is a great negative and it is something that can be resolved easily. The studio patriots have to understand this.
The War of the Rohirrim is quite impressive especially with the character exposition. Like Éowyn, Hera is seen more as a woman than a fighter. Taking into account Helm and her brothers, they think of Hera as someone who is weak to be regarded as a help. Their disdain for her and refusal to listen to her advice proves fatal. There is however a place in the/applying her authority in commanding Rohan’s besieged forces through the most terrible phase in their history. Witnessing Hera’s evolution from an underestimated princess to a full-blown shieldmaiden makes this ride totally worth it.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a joint effort of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation, Sola Entertainment and WingNut Films. From Warner Bros, it will be in cinemas starting December 13th.
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