The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

 It’s time to see Middle-Earth like you’ve never seen it before.

Actually, not really. I’ll explain.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, renders a few pages of Tolkien's famous appendices into an epic anime movie. This technically isn’t the first anime based on the material; the Rankin-Bass TV movies of The Hobbit and The Return of the King were animated by Topcraft, the studio that was eventually re-branded as Studio Ghibli.  Let’s see how this new effort fares.

Several centuries before The Lord of the Rings, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) ruled over the Kingdom of Rohan with his sons Hama (Yazdan Qafouri) and Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright) by his side. Helm’s favorite child, however, is his “wild and free” daughter, Héra (Gaia Wise), who’d rather prefer equestrian pursuits than marital ones. When Freca (Shaun Dooley), King of the neighboring Dunlendings, proposes marriage between his son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) and Héra, Helm recognizes it as a power-grab and challenges Freca to fisticuffs. Helm knocks out Freca with a single, fatal hammerhand. Afterwards, Wulf swears revenge.

It takes a while, but the Dundelings set forth to take revenge on Helm and his line. Wulf, a childhood friend of Héra, wants to take revenge on her specifically for rejecting him. The people of Rohan's capital, Edoras, evacuate to the stronghold of Hornburg - the eventual Helm's Deep- with Wulf in pursuit. It eventually falls to Héra to not only lead her people to safety, but to ward off the invaders with whatever help she can get. 

All of this is narrated by Miranda Otto, reprising her role as Eowyn from the original trilogy. She tells us that Héra's story was never passed down "in the tales of song," perhaps nodding to how she isn't even named in the appendices. I'm not complaining about these liberties, given how Arwen was expanded upon in the original films. Héra is given a decent hero's journey by original trilogy co-writer Phillipa Boyens and several others. Héra is a typical, yet likable, tomboy princess, and her hesitation to marry anyone - not just Wulf - is understandable. It has a stunning opening scene, where Héra meets a giant eagle, who becomes relevant in the climax. The climax also gives us a good final battle between her and Wulf.

Wulf, by contrast, isn't as sympathetic as the film thinks he is. He exposits how he was looked down upon for his mixed heritage, but we barely get anything to back it up. We get just one flashback between him and Héra as kids, literally the only time we see them as kids. He goes straight into evil territory once he formally begins the war. He even blows off Héra's one offer to marry him because of his massive ego. Wulf's only sympathetic moment is when he finally realizes he's lost (his last-ditch effort to kill Héra notwithstanding). His General, Targg (Michael Wildman), is far more sympathetic as he at least realizes how pointless the war is. 

His name is Helm Hammerhand, but he's surprised when he instantly kills Freca. Is this the moment that he earned his Hammerhand name? The film doesn't explain that; neither does Tolkien for that matter. It's a bit flummoxing, but he puts those Hammerhands to good use as a "wraith." You won't forget the ominous horn that announces his presence, that's for sure. His last stand against Wulf's army at the Gates of Hornburg sits nicely alongside the biggest moments of the original trilogy. Outside of battle, his moments of fatherly affection for Héra are nice. This is a man who respects how his daughter isn't like the other ladies. In fact, the whole royal family gets some nice moments together. One of the best moments involves the fate of Hama's harp.

Director Kenji Kamiyama (Star Wars: Visions; screenwriter of Blood: The Last Vampire) gives us an appealing animated approximation of Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth. Its locations are just as one remembered them from the original trilogy, while its vibrant color palette is nothing short of outstanding. A few great set pieces include a rampaging Mumak, its death by a Watcher in the Water, and the climactic cavalry. Héra's aunt, Olwyn (Lorraine Ashburne), and squire Lief (Bilal Hasna), are not only likable supporting characters, but look very much like updated Rankin-Bass designs. That's nifty. The CGI animation is pretty noticeable against the 2D characters, but that rarely bothered me for some reason. And yes, the rumors are true, Christopher Lee gets a posthumous line in as Saruman with an old piece of audio.

Some have questioned why The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim had to be an anime. I'm fine with it as it means another anime movie gets to be on the big screen. It helps its case with plenty of great action scenes, many of which I've already mentioned. Still, it could have been shorter than its 134-minutes; it's particularly noticeable late during the second half. In any case, it's still better than stretching a thin novel into a nearly eight-hour film trilogy. I think it's fine taking this journey to Middle-Earth, even once, just to see the new direction. If not, there's always the original trilogy.