June 16

The world of Middle Earth can hold many stories, both before and after the well known Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. The world of animation seems to fit perfectly among the setting. Unfortunately, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim does not take advantage of the medium to the point that it could’ve.

According to IMDB, “Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, it tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless lord of Rohan, with dubious ancestry, having many ties to Dunland, he seeks vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg-a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”

This movie is okay, but it could have been so much more. The story of Héra is one that we have seen dozens of times. Filled with cliches, there are no really good character moments or story bits. The battles are the best part of the film, but they do not hold the same oomph that they could have because these characters are not deep and do not make you invested in their story.

The animation is, at best, average. Some background scenes look good, but much of the actual character animation looked choppy and, at times, cheap. They tried to cover some animation with snow and other imagery, but it did not work.

The relationship between Héra and Wulf was touched upon, but it was not developed to an extent that I believed the eventual response. Perhaps I can see Wulf’s anger toward Helm Hammerhand, but his all-consuming hatred is unexplained. He comes off as just a one-dimensional villain.

The film is way too long too. At two hour and fourteen minutes, it way exceeds what an animated film, even an animated epic as this intended to be, should be. Still, this is not the worst film I’ve seen. It just could have been so much better.