The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

The animated return to Middle-Earth is rushed and shallow

The Lord of the Rings has inspired an entire generation of fantasy novels, shows, and films. Yet the property itself is not as exploited as similar mammoth properties like Star Wars or James Bond. That has been changing recently with Amazon’s The Rings of Power (2022-) show and a slate of new Peter Jackson produced films arriving. However, for New Line Cinema to retain the rights, they had to release a film by this year, something that has taken the shape of The War of the Rohirrim (2024).

The War of the Rohirrim is an animated foray into Middle Earth, following events detailed in the index of the original “Lord of the Rings” books, taking place 200 years before “The Hobbit.” We follow Hera (Gaia Wise) princess of the kingdom of Rohan, whose king Helm (Brian Cox) gets embroiled in a war with the bellicose Lord Freca (Shaun Dooley), who insultingly wished to gain power by marrying his son Wulf (Luca Pasqualino) to a reluctant Hera.

The War of the Rohirrim is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, who brings the Japanese anime style to Middle Earth for the first time. Previous animated versions, such as The Hobbit (1977) had hewn to Disney animation standards. With The War of the Rohirrim, the change in style fits well with the tone of the mythology; this is greatly aided by recreating the set designs of Peter Jackson’s live-action films. However, both the story and animation of The War of the Rohirrim showcase a rushed production schedule.

The animation lacks the fluid rendering and time to meet its ambition. Some wide shots feature characters noticeably unfinished and lacking detail or color. The most blatant example of lack of time in the animation, however, is in the frame rate. Characters move in stilted and staccato movements, appearing more like a constantly buffering stream than a theatrically released film. If this were a straight-to-streaming movie, that quality would be more excusable, but for a hyped The Lord of the Rings film, given a worldwide release, it is not up to par.

The biggest issue with The War of the Rohirrim, however, is with its. The barebones of the narrative are intriguing enough, especially the exploration of a female character that the film argues was erased from Tolkien’s text. It would have been an interesting deconstruction of the male-heavy society depicted in Middle Earth and brought a revisionism to the cemented lore. However, this is scantily explored, with any thoughts of a feminist take largely dashed when seeing a scantily cladded Hera don a wedding dress for her final battle. It once again plays into the excuse that depicting a female sex object wielding violence counts as a feminist statement. The characterization in The War of the Rohirrim suffers from the rushed schedule as well, with none given any depth; they remain names on paper that go through a series of events. Not even our protagonist Hera evolves into anything complex, much less someone featuring a personality.

The War of the Rohirrim shows hints and a skeleton of an interesting story, but the roughshod production schedule severely curtails the quality of technical and narrative elements. It was enjoyable to return to Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth, especially using the anime medium. However, viewers will hope that the next New Line The Lord of the Rings property takes more time and care to craft itself.

6.0/10