Back in the day, before Peter Jackson came along and made “The Lord of the Rings” a hit, there was an animated trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world in the late 70s; two TV movies produced by Rankin/Bass (among them “The Hobbit,” which is still quite popular) and a dark gloomy feature-length film by Ralph Bakshi (known for his science fiction freak-out movie “Wizards”). So there’s more than just a precedent here; rather it is somewhat poetic that Jackson and Philippa Boyens would write something as intense as this as an addendum to the mythos they established henceforth Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”.
By poetry here, I mean those lines recited at your local Renaissance fair with flutes playing and people dressed up in costumes dancing. But what sets apart “The War of the Rohirrim” is not only its animation but its anime style rendered using fine lines like Japanese TV shows or movies for adults. This one got directed by Kenji Kamiyama who had already overseen Warner Bros.’ “Blade Runner: Black Lotus”.
For those who didn’t get enough of Middle Earth, here are over two hours of nerdy exposition about a battle at Helm’s Deep (where one of the most exciting fights in The Two Towers occurs). If this seems very technical, it is because it was not so much an adaptation as a development from Tolkien’s tough prose. It might satisfy die-hard fans, but others may have been more thrilled by the previous live-action movies.
After “The Hobbit” by almost two centuries, we find a young lady riding on top of a mountain with hair like that of an Advil tablet. She then feeds one of the great eagles she has at her disposal with a big ham hock. An opening narration by Éowyn and a swirling 360-degree shot confirm this is no ordinary girl, declaring: “Many heroes were born through her hands but you will not find her in the old songs.” The choir-like music that Stephen Gallagher put together may make your hair stand on end. In any case, it is clear that War shows how exciting it can be to reside in that movie-dream place Middle-earth is referred to as sometimes.
There are four writers (including Boyens) but they have not exactly made the script for “The War of the Rohirrim” amateur friendly. The title is about people in Rohan, ruled by a big white-bearded Viking-like man called Helm Hammerhand who is able to kill his enemies with a single blow as he does in a brawl with another clan leader. Gruff-voiced “Succession” star Brian Cox plays him which seems like fitting casting since there’s so much focus on who will inherit Rohan when this imposing father figure dies. His favorite child is not one of his two sons, but rather Héra (Gaia Wise), who has red hair.
The beginning of the problem is that first slap down, when another leader tries to force his son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) as a bridegroom more like an order. In one of the flashbacks it is shown how Héra and Wulf were friends in their childhood and maybe even sweethearts; after all, she gave him that cool-looking scar on his left eye. But if Helm won’t give away his kingdom by marriage, Wulf will take it by force: that means he will lead a great army of four-tusked elephant-like creatures into the great hall.
Héra foresees this and leads the townspeople to Hornburg, a massive hideout built into a mountain. The first part of the film is interesting enough, but then it becomes boring when Rohirrim are hiding places themselves while Wulf handsome as hell but so merciless is attempting to get inside.
But he cannot fight all the invaders alone. That leaves Héra, whom Boyens and Jackson want to present as daring and resourceful as some of the heroic men celebrated in their actual films. And why not? Fantasy feels like a perfect place to balance the male-dominated accomplishments that are rife throughout human history.
Meanwhile, over on Middle-earth, Tolkien shows us Éowyn, Miranda Otto’s character and a shieldmaiden of Rohan. Héra was clearly made in her image: another strong female role model for a franchise that is sometimes fitfully reviving itself. “The War of the Rohirrim” isn’t enough to bring it back (it would hardly deserve a theatrical release), but it does fill in the gaps between “The Hobbit” and Jackson’s upcoming film “The Hunt for Gollum.” Occasionally there are a few connections here and there which most people may safely ignore. It seems nobody cares about the ring any more like they used to.
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