Review: The War of the Rohirrim is a lukewarm return to Middle-earth

After Disney acquired Star Wars and finished the trilogy of trilogies, they found themselves in something of a weird spot with the franchise. Star Wars is massively popular, one of the most popular series in all of media, but what makes a Star War a Star War? Like all fandoms, Star Wars fans are a fickle bunch, and hard to please. And it seems like the further away from the characters from George Lucas's original film the series gets, the less it feels like part of the franchise. And the less people care. Which explains Disney's approach since Solo bombed. Now, they mostly make streaming series, which mostly stick to established characters, or at least occasionally shoehorn them in (even The Mandalorian, which was hugely successful out of the gate, ended up bringing in characters like Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, and Luke Skywalker).

I bring this up, because Warner Bros. is now facing a similar dilemma with The Lord of the Rings, another hugely popular franchise that they're figuring out how to milk move forward with. After making three (!) movies out of The Hobbit, a short and rather straightforward book, Warner Bros. is taking their first stab in a while with the anime feature spin-off The War of the Rohirrim. It's definitely an unexpected approach, one that I imagine will be met with some head-scratching (myself included), but I'm at least pleased that they're tying something new, something that doesn't feel terribly burdened by what came before (or, as this is a prequel, what will come after, I suppose).

Helmed by Kenji Kamiyama, who has directed various projects in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, along with features like Napping Princess and TV shows like Blade Runner: Black Lotus, The War of the Rohirrim is a nice-looking movies. The character designs are appealing and striking. Between the anime aesthetic and the Middle-earth setting, a lot of them (hell, I guess all of them), look like they would be right at home in a Fire Emblem game, which is a huge compliment coming from me. The animators do a nice job of making this world recognizable but with a fresh coat of paint. It's very cool to see some classic settings (and at least one familiar character) rendered in this style, although some of the character movements lack fluidity, feel a bit stiff. This isn't always the case, and weirdly, I think the more dynamic the scene, the more appealing the movements. Most of my favorite moments to watch were the action-y ones, especially the climactic one-on-one showdown that clinches the finale.

As much as I liked what I was seeing, however, I struggled to get into the narrative. Which is where we come to the difficulty of expanding such a deeply beloved franchise.

Some context might help here. When I was in middle school, Lord of the Rings was the basis of my personality, and arguably my life. My first-ever midnight movie was Return of the King. I remember going into school late the next day and trying to be casual while I explained my tardiness. "Yeah, I was at the movies until almost 4 a.m., so I thought I'd sleep in." Every time one of the movies would drop on DVD, I would ask the cashiers at Walmart and Best Buy if I could have their various character pins. There was no thrill like a "yes." For three Christmases straight, my big gift from my grandparents was the latest box set of whatever Extended Edition had just released. I always preferred the original cuts.

So I came into this movie with that history, though I don't count myself a fanatic by any means these days (I haven't even finished the first season of the very solid, but in this case unrelated, show on Amazon). And watching The War of the Rohirrim, I kept struggling to feel like I was watching a Lord of the Rings movie. Yeah, the action is happening in Rohan. Helm's Deep is there. Oliphants feature in some of the action scenes. But I ended up feeling like I was watching a movie that was sort of forced to fit into Middle-earth rather than feeling like one that's organically set there. Like the writers came up with a pretty good, but quite generic fantasy story, plopped in in Tolkien's world, put on a coat of anime paint, and called it a day. This story doesn't feel like it needs to be told in this setting, or in this medium, but it just is, anyways. Weirdly, it doesn't bother me all that much because it feels like such an odd swing, almost the opposite of what Disney does when they remake and re-iterate their movies to death, until the last drop of nostalgia has been wrung out, and maybe not even then. But it still didn't quite work for me.

The film focuses on Hèra (Gaia Wise), daughter of Rohan's king, Helm (Brian Cox, in an expectedly thundering vocal performance). She's headstrong, clever, adventurous, and -- because she's a woman -- expected to marry for political advantage rather than become a protector of the realm like her two (very hot) brothers. After a failed marriage proposal and some other turns I won't discuss, Rohan finds itself at war with the hot-tempered Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), a childhood friend of Hèra's who cobbles together an army to try to take the throne by force. 

It's all solid ground to tread, and tread pretty well here. But I kept thinking, "Does this feel like Lord of the Rings?" That won't be a concern for everyone -- my husband, who has never particularly been a fan of the series, found this one rapturous, and made him feel like he finally gets what everyone else sees in the franchise. But for me, I wanted the movie to feel more like what I expect from the series. Which I think is a fair critique in this case. Generally, I don't think it's fair to be upset that a movie isn't what you wanted it to be rather than judging it on what it is, an easy pitfall to fall into, especially with highly-anticipated releases. But when that highly-anticipated release is part of a well-established franchise, I think it's fair to assume certain boxes will be ticked.

And this movie isn't without its connections to the larger world, or its predecessors. I do appreciate that the fan service is kept to a minimum, and where it pops up, it's done with care and in service of the story. I won't spoil any story stuff beyond saying I would be happy to see a sequel that follows certain characters on a new adventure. But there's lots of recurrences of Howard Shore's gorgeous, iconic themes throughout the movie, anchoring Stephen Gallagher's score. Having Miranda Otto's Éowyn serve as narrator a bit of brilliance, one female Rohan warrior telling another's story. I was so happy to hear her.

Mostly, though, this story is very much centered on the new batch of characters (some of whom, I imagine, have stronger roots in Tolkien's work than others). My favorite is Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne), a shield maiden who serves faithfully at Hèra's side, both a source of wisdom and a badass fighter in her own right. So many of my favorite moments in the film feature Olwyn, who feels so fleshed out and also embodies one of the film's most compelling themes: who is remembered by history, and why are women more easily (and willfully) forgotten? This theme certainly resonates through Hèra's character, as well. In the film's opening scenes, Éowyn's narration tells us that there is no record of Hèra to be found, which makes her feel like a legendary figure, and makes the telling of her story feel all the more precious. I was certainly glad to hear it, even if it left me wanting more. Maybe I'll get that more with a sequel that brings this world a little closer to the one I already know and love, and maybe that'll help me hold these characters a little dearer, too.