KSL Movie Show review: ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ feels a bit redundant

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SALT LAKE CITY — If you are a Lord of the Rings fan … that’s it … I believe that should do it.

“I need more,” you plead?

Okay, so here’s what they’re saying but not telling you. 

“Peter Jackson Presents” is the bold print declaration at the beginning of the trailer, but in truth, Jackson was only involved as an occasional sounding board for story ideas and so receives the nebulous title of “Executive Producer.” 

In plain English, this is not his movie. 

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So what made New Line and Warner Bros. decide to make this anime prequel from a Tolkien mention in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings?  I believe PANIC is the right word.

In order to maintain the film adaptation rights for J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings,” the studios had to quickly green light a project. They had been talking about doing something like this for years – so here it is.

The filmmakers focused their attention on the history of Rohan’s rulers, a kingdom that existed nearly 200 years before Frodo and friends.  The most famous king of Rohan was Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox).  He had two sons and a daughter, the boys named Haleth and Hama, their sister unidentified.  So they came up with a name, Héra, to honor an Icelandic actress, not after the Greek goddess.  

Héra (Gaia Wise) will become the protagonist, but she’s no super-powered Wonder Woman, even though she is proficient at weaponry and horse wrangling, she uses her intelligence and cunning, but when called upon she can whack a middle-earth mole or two. 

She’s also pretty feisty, rebellious and not remotely interested in any arranged marriage King Daddy would have in mind to bring together neighboring kingdoms or whatever. Yes, it’s all old school chitchat about protecting his little princess, but she’s not having it. 

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And of course, as all these tales of yore are about, one of those neighboring lords would very much like to take the throne from old King Helm, but seems to have forgotten the cranky old boy’s nickname of Hammerhand.  Let’s just say Lord Freca’s attempt at a donnybrook fisticuffs with Helm goes highly awry, leaving Freca’s brooding son Wulf in a deep state of vengeance. 

For the rest of the film, Wulf’s campaign to not only dethrone King Helm, but also vanquish the citizenry of Rohan – the Rohirrim – is the center of attention.  And as usual, nobody is listening to the voice of reason, Héra.  It’s purely a cauldron of tough guys who would rather leave hundreds dead and a city under siege, instead of working out a viable solution.

Now I realize that nobody watches these movies for their clever diplomatic shenanigans and admittedly once you get used to the anime style, there are some powerful scenes of epic war and destruction, it just feels a bit redundant and familiar. 

Loved Héra and her wise protector, Éowyn (Miranda Otto) who has a future in the later films, plus a drive-by cameo from Saruman (voiced by the late great Christopher Lee – from an unused clip also from those later films) to display an LOTR Trilogy connection. 

And honestly, if it hadn’t been for all the macho nonsense, this would have been a less tedious moviegoing experience.  

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM (B) Rated PG-13 for strong violence. Featuring the voices of Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Miranda Otto, Luca Pasqualino and Shaun Dooley. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama (“Napping Princess” “009 Re: Cyborg”) – animated in Tokyo. Running time: 134 minutes.  

The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.