The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – anime excellence

My adult geek friends (aka the majority of my friends) often tell me they think I’d enjoy anime. I’ve just never really gotten around to watching it. Like a lot of people, I’ve seen the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (which is obviously fantastic) and I certainly enjoy good adult animation, namely Bojack Horseman which is easily one of the best TV shows ever made, but I’ve never found myself desperate to jump into the world of anime. For those unfamiliar with the term, anime is a Japanese style of animation, often aimed at adults, and with a very specific visual style that differentiates it from mainstream Western animation.

The latest entry in The Lord Of The Rings Universe, which is still being helmed by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh’s WingNut Films, is its first foray into anime, an odd choice on the surface. Still, after watching the NZ Premier of The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, I think it’s a foray that mostly works.

The first impressive thing to note about the style of anime used in this film is that other than the 3D-rendered backgrounds, it’s entirely hand-drawn; a massive undertaking for the talented animators and an incredibly impressive thing to witness on the big screen. The backdrops themselves are almost photorealistic in comparison to the unique hand-drawn character models and the juxtaposition between these two art styles is gorgeous.

Set before The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, this story follows Hera (Gaia Wise) the daughter of an absolute badass king, King Helm (voiced by the unmistakable Brian Cox). When said king punches a rival in the face so hard that it kills him his son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) vows revenge. After gathering an army of ruthless men to attack the kingdom and avenge his father’s death, Wulf returns and drives the King and the people of Rohan to retreat to the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg (which many fans will know as Helms Deep).

The storyline itself is very slim, and the film is very long. Based on an appendix from The Lord Of The Rings, it doesn’t offer much by way of substance or character development, and while King Helm is mentioned in the appendix, his daughter and the protagonist here is an entirely new character. Needless to say, if you are into your storylines and character development then you aren’t going to be overly rewarded here – the film is far more interested in getting to the battles.

Fortunately, those battles are glorious: drawn to absolute stylistic perfection, gorgeously choreographed, making full use of the animation style. Kudos to director Kenji Kamiyama for his vision here. For the most part, there’s never a dull visual moment. Combine this with a fantastic score from Stephen Gallagher (who worked in the music department on Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy) it becomes a visual and auditory feast for the senses. Gallagher clearly knows what LOTR music should sound like and makes good use of light motifs from familiar scores while also conducting his own musical journey. The voice actors also do a fantastic job of engaging with their characters, with a clear sense of mastery and believability.

The film does slightly overstay its welcome. Running at two hours and 14 minutes, I did find myself almost getting bleary-eyed at the onslaught of the visual mayhem, and due to the pretty basic story and surface-level character development, I’m not entirely sure why it needed to be so long. Sometimes even a good thing can start to be too much if it overstays its welcome. A bit like eating an entire wheel of cheese, at some point, you kinda lose interest in the flavour.

There are also a few references to the live-action films that are so heavy-handed that I felt like the characters may as well be winking at the audience. Overall, however, there’s something here for everyone. Whether you’re a fan of anime or not, a newcomer to LOTR or an old-school fan, The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of Rohirrim is a visually pleasing side story.  It’s very entertaining, even if it needs to learn from the films in the series that went before, by ending before the audience starts wishing it would.

+ The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of Rohirrim is screening now at New Zealand cinemas.