In terms of desperate attempts to keep beloved franchise going , The Lord of the Rings : The War of the Rohirrimis one of the most clever that ’s come along in late computer memory . The new picture , which is fix around 200 years before the start ofThe Fellowship of the Ring , is based on an case thatLord of the Ringsauthor J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about in the cecal appendage of his original trilogy . Its storey include multiple battles and research the history of Rohan , a kingdom anyone familiar with Tolkien ’s novels or director Peter Jackson ’s movies should think . It is , additionally , a big - screen door anime dangerous undertaking that has the potential drop to drastically and excitingly expand the Lord of the Rings franchise ’s multimedia scope .

All of which is to say thatThe War of the Rohirrimseems , on paper at least , like the reply to all the problems that Warner Bros. has run into while trying to keep its Lord of the Rings moving picture franchise alive , most of which stanch from a shortfall of existing narrative material . At first glance , it does n’t seem like the kind of franchise spinoff that command extramarital homework or is stuck suffocatingly in the fantasm of the Lord of the Rings trilogy , either . Both of those effrontery are thankfully dependable ofThe War of the Rohirrim , though the moving picture does shoehorn in more unnecessary Easter egg and references than even give out - hard Tolkien fans may see coming . Unfortunately , The War of the Rohirrimlacks both the illusion and the bear on grandeur necessary to lend its alluring fantasy world to life story with sufficient plangency . It is a funnily and surprisingly lackluster epic .

Directed by longtime Nipponese invigoration director Kenji Kamiyama , The Lord of the Rings : The War of the Rohirrimbegins in a prison term of flimsy peace in Middle - earth . It follow Héra ( Gaia Wise ) , the “ wild ” and strong daughter of Helm Hammerhand ( Successionstar Brian Cox ) , the mighty reigning king of Rohan . Helm ’s keep on his kingdom and its people is tested early inThe War of the Rohirrimby Freca ( Shaun Dooley ) , a rich lord of a neighboring region who demands that Helm conjoin Héra to his boy Wulf ( Luke Pasqualino ) rather than a lord of the nearby Gondor or any other farming . When Helm refuses , he and Freca come to blows in a brutal confrontation that sets the stage for the vengeance - fueled state of war between Rohan and Wulf that encompassesThe War of the Rohirrim‘s final two - thirds .

This tale is well - known among Tolkien obsessive , but it is around Helm himself or his valiant nephew Fréaláf ( Laurence Ubong Williams ) thatThe War of the Rohirrim‘s military conflict is usually concentrate on . In this cause , the film finds a unique direction into its story through Héra , an Amazonian figure of fierce intelligence and courage so clearly pull in the image of future Rohan noblewoman and warrior Éowyn ( Miranda Otto ) thatThe War of the Rohirrimis actually narrated by Otto herself . The present but tongueless analogue between Éowyn and Héra ’s stories prove to be the film ’s most effective and powerful attempt to relate its plot to the events of the War of the Ring . Other crossover efforts , like a abbreviated outpouring - in with a pair of ring - run Orcs institutionalize from Mordor and a couple of last - moment name - drop , are less successful .

The War of the Rohirrimsticks pretty tight to Tolkien ’s original , truncated retelling of its history . What original textile it creates is done in the service of fleshing out Héra , who emerge across the film ’s 134 - mo runtime as a physical body who feels both strikingly New and timeless in a way of life that makes her a fascinating and welcome compatriot to the other heroines , like Éowyn , whom Tolkien included in his fictional domain . The movie , however , struggles to produce the same depth that it does in Héra in nearly all of its other characters , including Freca and Wulf , two villain who remain frustratingly developing . Olwyn ( Lorraine Ashbourne ) , a shieldmaiden and friend to Héra , stands out less because of what is revealed about her and more because of what is incriminate . Cox ’s commanding outspoken performance as Helm , meanwhile , gives the form of weight to his character ’s vehemence and light - eyesight thatThe War of the Rohirrim‘s screenplay fail to convey on its own .

Kamiyama is no stranger to enfranchisement filmmaking , having previously worked onBlade Runner : Black Lotusand directed the practiced episode ofStar state of war : Visionsvolume 1 . He has a heavy time all the same makingThe War of the Rohirrimfeel like a worthwhile associate piece to Peter Jackson ’s alive - action Lord of the Rings and Hobbit motion-picture show . The new movie feel almost slavishly devoted to the look and design of Jackson ’s Tolkien adaptations , but no matter how detailed and stun its animated frame often are , The War of the Rohirrimnever manages to fully recapture the illusion of Jackson ’s center - worldly concern .

Much likeThe Hobbit : The Battle of the Five Armies , The War of the Rohirrimfails to realise that the dwell - in , touchable quality of Jackson ’s original , live - action take on Middle - ground is why it finger so real and inviting in his Lord of the Rings films . The War of the Rohirrimmay cover up why the Rohan fortress of Helm ’s Deep receives its name and reputation , but none of the scenes set there come near to matching the visual beauty of those in 2002’sThe Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers .

From its artistic to its sometimes unenrgetic footstep , The War of the Rohirrimremains firmly committed throughout its runtime to moving and looking just like an revive reading of a Jackson - direct Tolkien photographic film . In doing so , it fails to really search the stylistic and structural opportunities of its animated anatomy . Its tread could have been faster , editing more experimental , and legal action more stylized and in - your - face . The Lord of the Rings prequel is made with a variety of set formalism , though , which prevent it from ever becoming its own , unequalled experience . It comes across , instead , like a less vivacious and immersive edition of something viewers have already seen done better before .

The Lord of the Rings : The War of the Rohirrimis far from the worst routine of franchise expansion that Hollywood has produced over the past 10 age . Its obvious aid to particular and faithfulness to its parent flick will , in fact , likely make it a more than acceptable experience for all the Lord of the Rings fans out there who are just desperate to hark back to mediate - solid ground on the enceinte sieve . For everyone else , though , The War of the Rohirrimdoesn’t have anything truly new or memorable to offer . It ’s a phantasy escapade that never really gets going or builds enough power and inquire to leap off the page and screen the same manner that J.R.R. Tolkien ’s original stories and Peter Jackson ’s feature of speech adaptation have remain to for decennary now .

The Lord of the Rings : The War of the Rohirrimis now play in theater of operations .