Middle-earth is now an anime in the new film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.” The film followed Héra, a princess of Rohan who lived nearly 200 years before “The Lord of the Rings.” She battled to defend the kingdom of horse riders in a brutal war against the invading Dunlendings.
“The War of the Rohirrim” was based on lore in “The Lord of the Rings” books, written by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, this new film was mostly an original story. It was directed by Kenji Kamiyama and starred Gaia Wise as Héra and Brian Cox as the king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. Miranda Otto reprised her role as Éowyn to narrate the film.
Highs
The film managed to dodge one of the worst sins of prequels: trying to connect too much to their original film. This was especially a problem with “The Hobbit” films which ended up over bloated and missing the point of the novel. Though “The War of the Rohirrim” had a few fan service moments, it managed to remain an independent story with tasteful references. One could even watch it without having seen “The Lord of the Rings” and understand it perfectly.
It managed to balance a brutal war with fitting hope. Though “The Lord of the Rings” was violent, it ultimately had a hopeful, anti-war message. This optimism was at the core of all of Tolkien’s books. Though this new film could have leaned more into an anti-war message, it did have an empowering, optimistic message about resilience and equality. This made for an especially strong third act.
The backgrounds were beautiful, nearly realistic, colorful backgrounds. They fit the expansive majesty seen in other Middle-earth films. Along with the backgrounds, the entire film remained consistent with the designs of the live action films.
Lows
Héra was a character who had great potential. Clearly taking inspiration from Éowyn in “The Lord of the Rings,” a Rohirrim princess who fought bravely, against her father’s wishes and patriarchal traditions. However, Héra’s arc fell flat.
The biggest problem with Héra was how conveniently she got out of situations. Although the audience was told she was a strong, capable heroine, the narrative treated her more like a damsel in distress, saving her from tough spots, even if it was implausible. This robbed her of moments to show unique skills, such as ingenuity, strength, or wisdom. Though she started the conflict and did get to shine in the third act, she didn’t drive her own plot enough. Despite being the protagonist, the film often felt it belonged more so to other characters.
The plot overall was weak, riddled with contrivances. A major character survived multiple arrow wounds they most definitely shouldn’t have. The antagonist’s motivation was flimsy and not entirely clear, it wasn’t clear why the Dunlendings had such an issue with the Rohirrim. Random, seemingly important plot points and lore would get randomly dropped. In a way, it felt like an unfinished script, with elements that should have been cut or expanded in later drafts.
And despite Middle-earth being a promising place for animation, the film didn’t fully pull it off. The gorgeous, detailed backgrounds were conflicted by simple character designs and random, poorly rendered CGI objects. And the frame rate was so slow, it broke immersion in the film.
Lastly, why were the villains mostly BIPOC and the heroes mostly white? Sure, the novels certainly had questionable depictions of race. But other adaptations have minimized these problems with more diverse casting and shifting character designs, why not this?
Verdict
On paper, “The War of the Rohirrim” was an excellent idea. A standalone anime film in Middle-earth, looking closer at a random piece of lore, starring a heroine when Middle-earth was mostly male-centric. But in execution, it was plagued by a poor script and inconsistent animation.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for The Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
