With the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy having made $6billion its little wonder that Tolkien’s back catalogue is being squeezed for more content and The War of the Rohirrim is scraped from the novels appendices to make this animated feature.
Set 183 years before Frodo was frolicking in the fields this see Middle Earth’s Rohan ruled by Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox) as a fearsome a warrior as presumably his brother Chester Chiselchest, cousin Arthur Anglegrinder and his less impressive mate Terry Tinsnips (‘You’re fired !’ – Ed). But this film is, unlike the LOTR franchise, far more female led with his daughter Hera (Gaia Wise) front and centre when the films villain Wulf (Luke Pasqualinoi) and would be beau for Hera turns him down wanting to choose any future husband herself if indeed at all. The situation is worsened only when Helm kills Wulf’s father with a single punch in the sort of moment that would go viral in Middle Earth. Vengeance is the name of the game now for Wulf and Helm’s misplaced belief in being invulnerable takes the battle to him with terrible consequences. It leaves Hera having to (wo)man up and lead the people to safety and freedom from Wulf’s murderous masses.
That this was rushed into production to ensure that the rights to the original films were not lost sums up what is really something of a cash grab. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama the anination is that of his typical anime back catalogue and it’s a style that jars not really being suited to the quintissentially English Tolkien’s vision and is not really befitting of the beloved subject matter. The animation is stodgy and uninspired and is not helped by dialogue that includes, ‘ How do we survive?’…..answer, ‘We find a way!’ Invaluable advice. Its plus point is its female empowerment but even Hera who embodies this appears throughout wearing thigh boots like some cosplay dominatrix.
After the majesty of Peter Jackson’s ground breaking live action trilogy The War of the Rohirrim seems like a regressive step.
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Peter Jackson, Ian McKellen & Andy Serkis at the Lord of the Rings : War of the Rohirrim world premiere in London…..
Here’s The War of the Rohirrim trailer…..
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