Review: “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” opens new possibilities to Middle-earth lore

“Lord of the Rings” will always be synonymous with the cinematic world developed by Peter Jackson in his series of films.

Ever since there has been an unspeakable requirement to pattern any Middle-earth material to this, the recent “Rings of Power” television series on Prime have even taken the liberties of recreating the look of Jackson’s work across their character and production design, despite being a stand-alone thing from another studio.

Kenji Kamiyama’s “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”, despite the heavy involvement of the original filmmakers behind the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” films, offers a distinct look to explore Middle-earth. Its world is pretty much inspired by the New Zealand landscape of the previous films, but it has a striking grit and dreadful atmosphere that looks wonders in the animation format.

The film tells the story of Hera (Gaia Wise) and her family, the ruling family in Rohan. The Dunlendings will challenge their throne, seeking vengeance after Hera’s father, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), killed their lord after an altercation.

I sometimes wonder why they settled for hand-drawn animation instead of live-action in presenting this story. Gaia Wise and Brian Cox’s performances as Hera and Helm respectively could easily transcend to live-action, as proven by the intensity of their voice work. Wise particularly captured a sense of authority despite the limitations of what she can do. But then, it makes sense to have “The War of the Rohirrim” into animation since it was able to create its singular look and feel apart from Jackson’s films.

In creating “The War of the Rohirrim”, Kamiyama shared that that his team is heavily influenced by the works of Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki. Right away in the opening, you can already feel the Japanese undertones in its earnest moments. Sequences of Hera interacting with different Middle-earth creatures can easily be mistaken for Miyazaki’s earlier films.

What I appreciate about this film is that the regular moviegoer, even those without any association with “The Lord of the Rings”, can come to “The War of the Rohirrim” without trouble. This is a self-contained story free from the expectations of lore knowledge and mechanics. I talked to someone who last saw “The Lord of the Rings” in the same year it premiered in cinemas, and still find this film amusing and very reminiscent of the fantasy series and films that came after like “Game of Thrones”.

“The War of the Rohirrim” is an entertaining watch. I know people who will come in will inevitably compare it to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but it feels the wrong way to read it. The way I see it is it just opened new possibilities to explore Middle-earth across different formats that cinema can offer. Up next is “The Hunt for Gollum”, which will be directed and starred by Andy Serkis. Let’s see where that one takes this world forward.

“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is now showing in cinemas nationwide from Warner Bros. Pictures.

Featured photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.