ReviewThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – exciting anime movie prequel
Kenji Kamiyama directs this animated film set 200 years before LotR and starring the voices of Gaia Wise, Brian Cox and Luke Pasqualino
3/5 stars
Set 200 years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim chronicles a power dispute in the Kingdom of Rohan as witnessed by Hera, the strong-willed daughter of King Helm Hammerhand.
What sets this action-packed prequel apart from Peter Jackson’s award-winning film trilogy is that The War of Rohirrim is an animated adventure.
The film is directed by pioneering Japanese animator Kenji Kamiyama – whose previous work includes Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the 2021 Blade Runner: Black Lotus series – and produced by Japanese studio Sola Entertainment, in collaboration with Jackson’s WingNut Films.
It draws from an account detailed in the appendices of the third Lord of the Rings book, The Return of the King, published in 1955.
The film is narrated by Eowyn (voiced by Miranda Otto, reprising her role from the original trilogy), who introduces us to Helm Hammerhand (Succession’s Brian Cox), the benevolent yet stubborn King of Rohan.