I'm an enormous fan of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, but I was massively disappointed by this animated prequel spin-off. While it looks lush and gorgeous, it feels dull and lifeless and too far removed from the events of those films. Lord of the Rings without hobbits, dwarves or elves is just a bunch of humans fighting. It's boring. At one point, we see a couple of orcs and I got excited, but they were gone seconds later. We are fed some bread crumbs by the end that link it to the rest, but it's too little, too late. This film did absolutely nothing for me; it didn't stir me, it didn't move me, it didn't entertain me. The whole thing was so predictable and cliché, overlong and formulaic. The anime style doesn't suit this story very well compared to the Ralph Bakshi and Rankin/Bass versions that came before. (If you're an anime fan, add one star to my rating.) At least we get some classic Howard Shore themes for good measure, while Eowyn (Miranda Otto) narrates and provides our only lifeline to the original. But that isn't enough to save it by a mile.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I fucking hate prequels.
1 ring reference and that's it out of 5
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