Opinions don’t differ that much. Critics seem to agree: the animated version is so-so.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of the Rohirrim” will appear on the big screen on December 12, 2024 and tells the story of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy world around Frodo and his companions. Some critics have already been able to take a look at it. But it looks like the flick didn’t seem to fare so well.
Animation was not well received
The “Lord of the Rings” adaptation seemed to be particularly negative due to the “stiff animation,” as several reviews mentioned. Julius Vietzen from “Filmstarts” wrote: “However, the film weakens due to stiff animations, inadequately staged dialogues and an inconsistently developed main character. The animation style remains stuck between anime and live-action film, thus exploiting the potential of neither world.” Emma Stefansky from “IGN” also shared this opinion. For her, the animation style was also “choppy”.
Watch the trailer here:
‘Lord of the Rings’ Anime Tries Too Hard But ‘Disappoints’
Also, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of the Rohirrim seems to be trying too hard to be a good movie. Critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “The War of the Rohirrim does everything it can to convince you that it is just like the films you know and love.” Even further, the author of the British “Independent” argued that this The prequel was probably intended to bring in a little more money. She wrote of “another corporate wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In addition, it is a shame that the warlike characters hardly present anything about their emotional world – unlike in the other “Lord of the Rings” film adaptations, in which the male characters also tend to appear tender and emotional.
William Bibbiani of The Wrap reported: “The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of the Rohirrim feels like a too-quickly released direct-to-video title that’s gotten a little out of control and now has to play to a moviegoing audience that who probably won’t forgive many random mistakes. It’s hard to get mad at this movie, but it’s very easy to be disappointed in it.”
But: easy to understand and woman as heroine
However, the animation doesn’t seem to be a complete disaster for many critics. The Hollywood Reporter also noted this on December 9th: “Fans will certainly appreciate the hints and references to previous films, including sections revisiting composer Howard Shore’s original themes and a late shout-out to Gandalf.” The author of the article, Frank Scheck, also praises the fact that you can still enjoy the film even if you don’t know everything about Tolkien’s world. The film journalist Julies Vietzen particularly liked the “borrows from the music and images of the Peter Jackson films”. Clarisse Loughrey probably thought it was good that this time a female character was in the spotlight and was the heroine of the story.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of the Rohirrim” is set in the Third Age of Middle-earth. To be more precise: almost 180 years before the hobbit Frodo Baggins existed. This time the people of Rohan are attacked by the Dunlanders in revenge. But the daughter of the King of Rohan, Héra, defends herself against this attack. It was directed by Kenji Kamiyama. Tolkien’s story was last animated in 1978 under the title “The Lord of the Rings” by American director Ralph Bakshi.