Amazon’s Prime Video since 2022 has been doing its own attempt to capture the magic of J.R.R. Tolkien’s wildly popular Lord of the Rings universe with The Rings of Power, setting it apart from Peter Jackson‘s LOTR and Hobbit trilogies, but still suggesting it is a distant cousin of those films. Now, however, Jackson himself is behind another incarnation, the animated The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, joined by his key LOTR contributors Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens — all won a boatload of Oscars and film immortality in the early part of this century with the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, each nominated for Best Picture, and finally sweeping it all in 2003 with 11 Academy Awards for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This was followed by the Hobbit trilogy.
That had appeared to be it for the Middle-earth adventures of Jackson and company, but now they have found a way back in for producing partner New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Animation by turning Japanese as it were, at least in turning to the world of Japanese anime and one of its singular current talents, director Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series).
Certainly War of the Rohirrim‘s trailer is trying to lure the Jackson faithful, with the first words appearing “PETER JACKSON PRESENTS” and then even live-action footage from the past films merging finally with Kamiyama’s soaring anime sequences.
Not attempted in animation form on this scale since Ralph Bakshi did The Lord of the Rings in 1978 landing movie rights going forward in the hands of Saul Zaentz, Jackson and Walsh are among the executive producers, and Boyens, considered a legendary expert on all things LOTR, is a key producer in venturing back into this world Tolkein created. What they have mined is essentially an appendage in the original book, maybe three pages, which describe the kingdom of Rohan and a story taking place 183 years earlier than the events depicted in Jackson’s live-action films.
Thus essentially with the visual guidance of Kamiyama, who professes to be even more an uber fan of Jackson’s film versions than the actual book itself, and his screenwriters (Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou), these filmmakers have served up something entirely new, while still hoping to please Tolkien fans with this tale by putting in small connections that signal what would come down the pike nearly 200 years later storywise.
A key component is the casting of Miranda Otto, Eowyn, Shield Maider of Rohan from Jackson’s films and here the narrator putting this “origin” story (but really a stand-alone) together for us.
The War Of The Rohirrim is essentially about the House of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox voicing the role) who is King of Rohan. He is father to a strong first son, Haleth Prince of Rohan (Benjamin Wainwright), who takes after his father, and son No. 2 Hama (Yazdan Qafouri), a more sensitive, musically inclined young man. There is also a daughter, about whom the King doesn’t pay as much attention. She was so minor in Tolkien’s brief descriptions that she was unnamed by J.R.R. Here, she is given not only a name — Hera (voiced effectively by Gaia Wise) — but also a key role in rising to a Princess Warrior out to save Rohan from a sudden attack by Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father Freca Lord of the West March (Shaun Dooley), who meets his fate at the hand of Helm. Due to this he turns very dark and vengeful, forcing Helm and his people into a last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg — the mighty fortress that will also be known as Helm’s Deep.
This is where Hera leads the resistance, which is a complicated matter considering her own history with Wulf. In their younger years they were good carefree friends, and as the story takes hold we see Wulf has returned to win her hand in marriage, something she fervently rejects but a future he believed in his heart he was entitled to. When his father is murdered that rejection takes on new importance in turning him into the villain of this piece and key motivation for all the battles that ensue.
Although not hitting us emotionally on the scale of the live-action films, Kamiyama has produced a visual landscape that at times, through use of motion capture, models and hand-drawn animation, do register a striking visual motif, not what we have previously associated with the cinematic efforts at Tolkien, but a world of its own merged with more allegiance to Jackson than J.R.R. The question is will fans buy it? As something of a passive observer — admirer yes, but not real devotee — I found it fairly gripping and compelling, but far down the list of what I think has been an exceptional year for animated films. Putting the story in the hands of Hera seems right in step with strong female characters who do have a name in Tolkien’s texts, and perfectly in line for an animated world quite frankly dominated by female character leads these days.
Shout-out to Stephen Gallagher’s stirring score. He was a music editor for Jackson’s Hobbit films, and here gets the assignment just right, even bowing to original LOTR composer Howard Shore’s memorable themes here and there.
Producers are Boyens, Jason DeMarco and Joseph Chou.
Title: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Distributor: Warner Bros
Release Date: December 13, 2024 (U.S.); December 6 (International)
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Screenwriters: Jeffrey Addiss & Will Mathhews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou
Cast: Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Miranda Otto, Luke Pasqualino, Laurence Ubong Williams, Benjamin Wainwright, Yazdan Qafouri, Lorraine Ashbourne, Bilal Hasna, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 2 hr 14 mins
English (US) ·