With The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of the Rohirrim, a new film is released in Tolkien’s popular universe. MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes was able to watch the film and was happy that the film told a short story.
What is The Lord of the Rings: Battle of the Rohirrim? The new film in the Lord of the Rings universe tells a story that takes place over 200 years before the well-known events of the trilogy. The protagonist is Hera, the only daughter of Helm Hammerhand, who is the King of Rohan at the time of the film.
However, the Dunlanders don’t seem to be so happy and a tragic event leads to a war in which Hera will play an important role.
First of all: I rate the film as a Tolkien casual. I’m not an expert on the series, but I think The Battle of the Rohirrim is a good film and that’s mainly due to two things: It tells a heroic fantasy story on a small scale. As a result, the film does everything right that the current Star Wars and Rings of Power do wrong.
You can find a trailer for the film here:
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of the Rohirrim – The next film in Middle-earth will be an anime
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The film’s most fun is in battles and fights
Let’s start with the most obvious: The Battle of the Rohirrim is an anime film and it looks pretty solid. With pure animation you can’t keep up with other genre representatives like Suzume, but it’s still exciting to be able to see Lord of the Rings in such a style.
The most fun is in the battles and fights. They have good choreography and, above all, an understanding of circumstances. When large creatures or armies appear, the comparison between the weaker heroes is well highlighted.
The film also has some successful compositions and ideas for the heroic moments. This creates picturesque images under snow and rain, which at one point even reminded me of a legendary moment from Whitebeard from One Piece.
This ensures that the fight scenes and battles have a good weight, which reminds me of beautiful moments from The Two Towers. The Battle of the Rohirrim, like the films, is a story about heroes.
A simple heroic story
The Battle of the Rohirrim is a fairly simple storyfor which you don’t even have to have seen the films. A compact conflict is told that does not involve major aspects such as Sauron or the ring. Rohan and the residents are the focus.
For me that was really good because I had absolutely no desire for a film that tried to further explore or question the mythology of the world. The Battle of the Rohirrim could have been mentioned in an aside, but that’s exactly what makes the film so good.
What I like so much about The Lord of the Rings is the story about heroes. There aren’t always the most complex motifs and they don’t have to be. The Battle of the Rohirrim is a small piece of the larger story, but a small heroic piece that captures the essence of the original films.
The film manages to exude the same feelings of heroism and hope that you feel at the end of The Two Towers. Hera is not a complex character, but she is a heroine that you quickly root for. She’s just not a character you’ll remember, but rather an embodiment of the Rohirrim, who get more of a spotlight with this story.
Star Wars should take this as an example
The Battle of the Rohirrim is exactly what the Star Wars series and The Rings of Power are missing: It’s simple. It doesn’t aggressively delve into the lore of the universes, but it still expands the universe. New series and films about well-known worlds don’t always have to be earth-shattering stories. Sometimes it’s enough to just tell a little story from one corner of these universes.
That’s the beauty of The Battle of the Rohirrim. If you don’t feel like watching the film or don’t like it at all, then it’s not a problem. You don’t miss any important event. In hindsight, it doesn’t change anything about the great films.
But if you get involved with it, then you can go back to the world you love, which offers you heartwarming music and small details that make the story still shallow can be integrated into the big picture.
When can you watch the film? The film will be in cinemas from December 12, 2024. It is still unknown whether and when it will run on streaming services. If you want to know beforehand which Lord of the Rings film is the best, then take a look at this list: All 9 Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit films ranked – Which is the best?