The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated prequel to Peter Jackson's original film trilogy.
Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, the film is based on characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien and is set 183 years before the events depicted in The Fellowship of the Ring. Watch this movie on Flixtor film.
The Battle of Rohirrim is set in the legendary kingdom of Rohan and, in my interpretation, tells the story of the mighty king Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) and his proto-feminist daughter Hela (Gaia Wise). From the old Studio Ghibli block.
Well, every father wants the best for his daughter, but when the clumsy Lord of Dunland Freca (Shaun Dooley) recommends his son Wolf (Luca Pasqualo) as a husband for Hela, his proposal is rejected.
Hela likes Wolf. Though the two grew up as childhood friends, she is not simply in love with him. But Freca gets angry and when she tries to fight Helm Hammerhand, she is quickly killed. Wolf is banished from the kingdom and harbors only hatred.
However, when the Wolf returns with a rather large wildling army, fighting first at Edoras and then at the last stronghold of Hornburg (which becomes known as Helm's Deep), Hela is ultimately defeated and must follow in her father's footsteps to save the situation.
War of the Rohirrim tells a grounded story with fantastical elements, influences from Japanese anime, and beautiful hand-drawn animation that expertly combines 2D and 3D. It is very carefully crafted, with beautiful browns and other earthy colors.
The film will certainly appeal to discerning adult audiences, but at 140 minutes (including credits), it's too long in my opinion. This doesn't help, as many of the characters are fairly one-dimensional.
The soundtrack also highlighted the epic scope of the film, but I wasn't particularly fond of it throughout.
Nevertheless, artistically speaking, the film offers a more interesting interpretation of Tolkien's work than the current Amazon series.
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