You know how Hollywood just can’t leave things alone? And this usually leads to some piece of crap we all have to suffer through? When you hear that Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim is being developed, your eyes start to roll and you facepalm.
But then you hear it’s an animation from Japan. Your hand moves and you take a glimpse with one eye. Then you see the name Kenji Kamiyama, one of the animation artists from Akira. Who also directed Blade Runner: Black Lotus and one of the episodes of Star Wars Visions. Suddenly, LOTR: The War of Rohirrim doesn’t look so bad. Here is a trailer.
That style of animation really takes me back to the days of Akira, Ninja Scroll, Demon City, and all the other awesome things from Japan I saw as a kid. There is something honest about it, that it looks hand-drawn, not stylised CGI.
Set 183 years before the events in the original Lord of the Rings movies, the story tells the story of the House of Helm Hammerhead, the King of Rohan. The official synopsis is:
A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg.
The cast includes Brian Cox, Miranda Ottoman, Shaun Dooley, Luke Pasqualino, Janine Duvitski and Benjamin Wainwright. Kamiyama is directing, with writing credits going to Jeffrey Addiss, Phoebe Gittins, Arty Papageorgiou and Will Matthews. The characters are based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s original book.
Addiss and Matthews co-wrote The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which, I’ll be honest, I couldn’t finish. It was far too drawn out and just not very interesting. Here’s hoping they do a better job with this.
Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim will be in cinemas on the 11th Dec.
