The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimis the latest entry in the celebrated and hugely popularLord of the Ringsseries of films, and it tells the story of Helm Hammerhand defending the kingdom of Rohan from an army of Dunlendings.War of the Rohirrimreviewswere split, though there weren’t many ardent defenders of the film, as its box office failings became apparent throughout its first weekend in theaters.
Personally, I think the film is solid enough, but its release does have me worried about theupcoming plans for theLord of the Ringsfranchise.
Since the rights toThe Lord of the Ringsfranchise were solda few years ago, the number of releases in the series has been steadily increasing, from video games, to TV shows, with an influx of new feature films that are set to be released, and unfortunately,War of the Rohirrim’s mixed reactionsare at the forefront.However, its release and the upcoming installments in the franchise have me worriedthat theLord of the Ringsseries is going to see a lot of mistakes made in the name of trying to generate as much content as possible.
War Of The Rohirrim Didn’t Feel Like A LOTR Story That Needed A Movie
The Story Was A Minor Footnote In Tolkien’s World
The Lord of the Ringsis a huge franchise, so, of course, the rights holders are going to do everything they can to wring as much profit out of the IP as possible, but that absolutely has the chance to make the series feel less unique as more and more projects are released under its name.The War of the Rohirrimis fine, butit doesn’t feel like something that adds much to the history of theLord of the Ringsuniverse, it feels exactly like a short story ballooned out to two hours.
WhileWar of the Rohirrimdid an admirable job at taking what was written and expanding on it, it’s a worrying trend for the franchise to move towards.
Thestory of Helm Hammerhandand the Dunlendings comes from the originalLord of the Ringsappendices, published by Tolkein at the end of theReturn of the Kingbook.
I haven’t read through the full appendices myself, butthe story of Helm and his family fighting the Dunlendings is a small part of the history of Rohan and the House of Eorl, and definitely not enough to fit an entire film.
WhileWar of the Rohirrimdid an admirable job at taking what was written and expanding on it, it’s a worrying trend for the franchise to move towards.
War Of The Rohirrim Makes Me More Worried About The Hunt For Gollum
The Upcoming Prequel Is Very Similar To War Of The Rohirrim
TheLord of the Ringsproject set to come afterWar of the Rohirrimis a live-action film calledThe Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis, who obviously played the character of Gollum in the original trilogy.The upcoming adaptation is similar toRohirrimin that it is also pulled from a very small bit of Tolkien lore, which in this case is a chapter fromThe Fellowship of the Ringin which Gandalf explains to Frodo the history of the ring and Gollum, explaining that he and Aragorn had to capture Gollum.
Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.
The Hunt For Gollumis slated for release in 2026, with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens of the originalLord of the RingsandHobbittrilogies set to produce.
Again, I think that, despite being made mostly just tokeep the LOTR rights,The War of the Rohirrimis a fine movie.
However, the fact that the next film is also doing the exact same thing, mining for an obscure piece of Tolkien lore to try and stretch into a movie seems like a good way to get people to lose interest.
The reasonWar of the Rohirrimbombed at the box office was becauseits base idea just wasn’t enough to make a truly great product, and the same may be true for the next one.
The Hunt For Gollum Is Even Harder To Get Right Than War Of The Rohirrim
The Film Will Have Even More Of An Uphill Battle
Unfortunately,The Hunt For Gollumis going to have an even harder time thanWar of the Rohrrimdid, for a multitude of reasons, first and foremost being that the tale that the upcoming film is based on is even smaller than that of Helm.
I think that the story of one of Rohan’s greatest kings is at least interesting, with a beginning, middle, andending thatThe War of the Rohirrimuses,whileThe Hunt For Gollumessentially boils down to what it says in the title, that being Gandalf and Aragorn trying to find Gollum.
While I was hoping for better results for War of the Rohirrim, I don’t think its failures suggest anything about future Lord of the Rings movies.
Its box office performance could be related to Warner Bros.’s marketing strategy or just a general disinterest in animation.
I doubt The Hunt for Gollum will achieve similar numbers to the original trilogy, but I think it could feasibly make somewhere around $400-500 million.
The upcoming prequel will also have to contend with the legacy of the original films and characters, which are beloved by so many, including myself.
I love both Sir Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen’s performances in the original films, and whileMcKellen may return inThe Hunt for Gollum, Mortensen more than likely won’t, leaving some very big shoes to fill.
WhileThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimwas a decent time, the next projects coming to the franchise are going to face an uphill battle to win people over.
Your Rating
Your comment has not been saved
Cast
Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand.
When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.
