Following some recent press-screenings, the first social media reactions to Warner Bros.' The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim animated prequel have been shared online, and the response to our first big-screen visit to Middle-earth since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has been very positive... for the most part!
The animation style, voice-acting, action sequences and overall aesthetic have come in for high praise, but quite a few of these posts mention that that movie is just too damn long, and simply doesn't justify its run-time.
The Middle Earth adventure, which is set almost 200 years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic trilogy, follows the mighty first King of Rohan as he mounts a defence of the fortress of Hornburg (which came to be known as Helm's Deep) from a relentless siege.
“This is the story of the most powerful king in Rohan's history, someone who defeated his enemies with his bare fists,” director Kenji Kamiyama said in a recent interview. “Why did his lineage have to end with him? I think there is a lesson in hubris there and also for a need for responsibility and awareness in their power. We live in an age where, all over the world, we face the reality of war again. What, then, is power? What is the responsibility of those who possess it? It is something they need to think about by thinking together with those who don’t.”
Brian Cox (Succession) will voice Hammerhand, with Gaia Wise (A Walk in the Woods) as his daughter Hera; and Luke Pasqualino (Snowpiercer) as Wulf. Miranda Otto is also set to reprise the role of Éowyn from Peter Jackson's LOTR movies, but the character won't actually appear (as far as we know), and will serve as narrator.
The supporting voice cast will consist of Lorraine Ashbourne (Bridgerton), Yazdan Qafouri (I Came By), Benjamin Wainwright (World on Fire), Laurence Ubong Williams (Gateway), Shaun Dooley (The Witcher), Michael Wildman (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Jude Akuwudike (Beasts of No Nation), Bilal Hasna (Sparks) and Janine Duvitski (Benidorm).
"A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking 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," reads the synopsis. "Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Hera, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction."
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim releases in cinemas on December 13.