The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is coming out this Friday. Critics had a chance to see the movie and the results are up the middle with a
Rotten Tomatoes score of 65%. Way I would describe the reviews is they (unfairly) are comparing it to the high bar of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and not on its own merits. What they seem to describe is an entertaining movie that occasionally gets slow (so did the tirlogy), great visuals, good voice acting, great music, and story that if not part of this franchise would probably be getting higher scores.
Here are a few samples from various reviews.
"
The War of the Rohirrim has a dynamite, exciting, and sweeping
first act as well as a jaw-dropping, awesome third act. It’s a massive
story and so, so much happens in it you frankly can’t believe they were
able to stuff it all into one movie. The problem, however, is the middle
of the film where things drag considerably. When Hera and the Rohan
find themselves stuck in Helm’s Deep, the film slows down to a
screeching halt. In a way, that change of pace mirrors the story of the
film, but even so, it can be a major slog. Thankfully, when it picks up
again, the finale more or less makes up for it." -
Gizmodo
"Although not hitting us emotionally on the scale of the live-action
films, Kamiyama has produced a visual landscape that at times, through
use of motion capture, models and hand-drawn animation, do register a
striking visual motif, not what we have previously associated with the
cinematic efforts at Tolkien, but a world of its own merged with more
allegiance to Jackson than J.R.R. The question is will fans buy it?" -
Deadline
"The character drama compels here as much as in the live-action films.
This is largely due to Kamiyama’s shrewd storytelling sense and how he
stages large action scenes against emotional powerhouse moments. A word
of praise for the animation team: how beautifully these artists stage
the sweeping vistas of Middle-earth!" -
The One Ring
"...the elephant in the room, in part because there’s an elephant involved
(it sneaks up on Héra like a slasher villain — it’s hilarious), is the
animation quality. The first shot of “The Lord of the Rings: The War of
the Rohirrim” is of an unconvincing CGI landscape while an eagle with a
surprisingly low frame-rate soars in the foreground. ...The characters are generic, but the main ones get the job done. ...Still, one has to admit that “The War of the Rohirrim” wears you down
after a while. The experience is not unlike watching a community theater
production of a Shakespeare tragedy. After you get used to the low
production values and wonky performances, you can’t help but get a
little swept up in it. By the time the climax rolls around you’re
actually invested. Unfortunately, by the time the credits roll, they’ve
already lost you again." -
The Wrap
"It's equally as surprising, then, that this curio is more of a mixed bag
than an outright disaster or an unqualified masterpiece. Instead, it's
stuck in an awkward liminal space between extremes. "The War of the
Rohirrim" is a dazzling feast for the eyes, delivering stunning visuals
like nothing we've ever seen in "The Lord of the Rings" before. The new
characters all make instant impressions and undergo satisfying arcs,
caught up in an interfamily drama worthy of any Shakespearean tragedy.
And as soon as the first violin strings of Howard Shore's distinctive
Rohan theme kick in, it's as if no time at all has passed since we last
visited the rolling plains of the horse-lords. Yet, for everything this
venture has going for it, "The War of the Rohirrim" is too small-scale
to feel properly epic. It never escapes the sinking realization that
none of this becomes as visceral, essential, or event-sized as the
previous movies." -
Slashfilm
