Set nearly 200 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings: The War of The Rohirrim tells the story of the Rohan royal family of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), a king who has two faithful sons, Háma (Yazdan Qafouri) and Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright), and a free-spirited daughter, Héra (Gaia Wise). An ambitious Dunlending lord, Freca (Shaun Dooley), arrives and offers to betroathal of his warrior son, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) to Héra.
Helm takes this gesture as entitled and power hungry and handles it as gentlemen typically do: with their fists. Helm punches Freca, accidentally him on the spot, which results in Wulf vowing to avenge his father’s death until every last member of the Hammerhand family is dead and Wulf sits on the throne.
The War of The Rohirrim focuses on Héra, who at first glance (and from the marketing) seems to be your typical “I don’t need no man” girl boss protagonist. While she is dead set on not getting married and is quite capable with a sword, thankfully she doesn’t quite fall into the dreaded Mary Sue territory. Overall, Héra is an intriguing character and her voice actress, Gaia Wise, does a lovely job.
However, the film would have been better served as as ensemble piece, focusing on all members of the Hammerhand family, especially Helm Hammerhand. A hotheaded, firm, and incredibly masculine leader, Helm is by far the most interesting character of the lot and has the greatest arc and character growth. Outside of the family, the characters of Wulf and the cousin Fréaláf are also highlights.
If you didn’t know any better, The War of The Rohirrim could be set in any medieval feudal world. The Rohan culture drips of Scandinavian influence gives this world a “Vikings on horses” vibe. Knowing that this film is set in Middle Earth or specifically Rohan is no significance to the viewer, except to add further depth for existing Tolkien fans. A few notable settings, such as Helm’s Deep and Isengard make appearances and it’s interesting to learn of Helm’s Deep name origins. And since this movie is set so far in the past from the events of The Lord of the Rings, the temptation to litter the screen with cameos of familiar faces is diminished, allowing the focus to be on the new characters and their story.
The animation and character designs are, for the most part, stunning and beautiful. There are times where the characters feel stiff and clunky, which may have been a result of the short production schedule. The anime style–while it may be initially off putting to some–fits this high fantasy world, allowing the film to stand on its own instead bringing comparisons to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This style particularly lends itself to blood and gore that accompany war films, enabling it to show the gruesome aspects of battle. For example, the gruesome oliphaunts–gigantic tusked war elephants seen in The Return of the King–are significantly more ferocious and terrifying in this styling than in the 2005 film.
There are times when the animation fails. A few of these are when the moving CGI backgrounds are blended with the 2D characters, especially during dynamic action scenes where both the background is moving and the characters. This is when the film feels most disorienting and takes you out of the moment. The opening scene of Héra riding her horse is one of these, which is unfortunate since that needed to be a scene that you nailed the execution in order to set the tone for the film. Instead you’re left wondering, “Is the whole film going to be like this?” Thankfully, it’s not and that feeling passes as you become engrossed in this royal drama.
Stephen Gallagher’s score selectively utilizes familiar themes from Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings’ score, such as the Rohan theme. But the rest of the score is original composition and perfectly fits this lordly, warring world.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of The Rohirrim is a nice standalone addition to The Lord of the Rings universe. You don’t see any rings of power or hobbits, but instead you do get some amazing sword-swinging action from a tough-as-nails royal family determined to save their people from the brutality of winter and war. It doesn’t try to compete with what’s already been done, but rather tells a new, solid story with a strong cast of characters. It may not be an instant classic, but it will still scratch that Lord of the Rings itch that Rings of Power did not.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of The Rohirrim opens in theaters December 13, 2024.
★★★1/2
