After ten years, we’ve finally returned to the world of Middle-Earth for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, bringing a lesser known portion of the fantasy realm’s history to life.
It’s been a while since Lord of the Rings fans have had something new to watch in theaters. In fact it’s been just over ten years since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies came into theaters and brought the latest screen adaptation of The Hobbit to a close. While I wasn’t expecting the next foray to feature the earlier history of Rohan, as a major Tolkien fan I didn’t mind it either.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is set about two hundred years before the events of The Hobbit. It is the reign of King Helm Hammerhand, the ninth king of Rohan, and things are not well in the land of the horse-lords. War is brewing with the Dunlendings, and Helm’s beloved daughter Hera soon finds her world turned upside down as friends become foes and the Rohirrim are obliged to flee for their lives to the Hornburg (soon to be renamed Helm’s Deep) in a conflict that sees the kingdom brought to the brink of annihilation.
The core of this story is essentially laid out in the main Appendix of The Lord of the Rings books, in the chapter where Tolkien lists and summarizes the reign of each of the kings of Rohan. As a result, hardcore Tolkien fans were likely well aware of how this story would go, at least in the broad strokes. Imagine my delight then, when I saw this film in theaters and realized the writers had adapted the story in such a way that while it does ultimately play out the way I expected, it gets there in unexpected and unpredictable ways.
First of all, I greatly appreciate how The War of the Rohirrim is neatly slotted into the bigger picture of The Lord of the Rings without feeling forced. That was my biggest gripe with the Hobbit films; those movies worked way too hard to slot the story into the cinematic grandeur that was the Lord of the Rings movies when the original story never worked on that level. In this film however, there are subtle nods and callbacks to the original film trilogy that remind the viewer this is a piece of a larger story but not in a way that’s distracting.
Then there’s the stunning animation. I recognize that the anime style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I strongly recommend giving this film a try, as anime and Lord of the Rings stories go very well together. There are some moments that are a little jarring as a number of scenes feature 2D animation against a 3D animated background, but once you adjust to the film’s style it’s really beautiful. Hera in particular is strikingly rendered throughout, but especially towards the end when she dons the distinctive outfit seen in posters promoting the film.
Speaking of Hera, I could write an entire essay on how amazing this character is. She’s so clearly an inspiration to Eowyn (who narrates throughout the story) with her desire to do a warrior’s deeds and living her life in the way she wishes, not because anyone else commands it. As an asexual person, I can also appreciate Hera gently explaining to Wulf, a would-be suitor, that she “doesn’t wish to marry anyone” but that doesn’t stop her caring for him.
If I have one criticism of The War of the Rohirrim it’s that the siege of the Hornburg reminds me a little too much of the Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Two Towers in a few places. On the one hand I’m sure this was partially intentional as they’d want to draw a parallel between what has happened before and will happen in the future. On the other hand, it felt slightly lazy to be that similar, especially given Theoden’s claim in The Two Towers that “no enemy has ever breached the Deeping Wall or set foot inside the Hornburg.”
This is a minor nitpick though as the film is still a lot of fun to watch. It’s especially interesting to watch how Hera and Wulf handle the burdens of leadership of their respective sides. Hera, in true Lady of Rohan fashion, rises to the occasion, whereas Wulf, who does start out with a semi-legitimate grievance against the Rohirrim, ultimately buckles and proves himself to be a coward in the worst sense of the word.
In conclusion, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a worthy entry in the ongoing saga of Middle-Earth. I would be more than willing to see more animated films in this style that tell the story of other lesser-known moments in Tolkien’s epic saga.
