War of the Rohirrim - Wasted Potential

[@Aentium]

My biggest gripe with this movie is that it trivializes the themes of Rohan in LOTR by just rehashing them without any theme or substance, like the themes of hope in two towers or the Rohirrim screaming Death! when charging against the orcs in Minas Tirith, which is used in the movie like it was Rohan's battlecry and not anything special that Theoden came up with. It's one thing to make a lame-ass spin-off separated from the themes of its predecessor, but sabotaging the original story is probably the biggest sequel sin

[@Dragon.um5tz]

Well, it’s sad because I was actually looking forward to seeing this

[@oXRaptorzXo]

@@Dragon.um5tz if you want to see it you should see it

[@mr.s2005]

they literally did the same thing to Fealaf that happened to Eomer;, Man who was banished and then come charging down the slope to finally break the attack and then becomes king because of the death of the previous one....even though I thought I read the creators had stated they weren't trying to make the two similar, maybe if they actually stayed true to the story, they would have had a carbon copy of Eomer in this. Though Theoden calling "death" was a bit off for me considering in the book it was Eomer who started the warcry of death when he saw his sister passed out and thought she was dead. So the "death" cry had more personal meaning when in the book with the Rohirrim resigning themselves to die fighting to avenge Theodeon and Eowyn

[@xavierthomas5835]

As with any form of media, and with any group of clichés and tropes, you start to hyperfocus on what's being presented because you've seen failure after failure. After so many of the same mistakes presented as though they were Nobel Prize winning art pieces, you begin to check their every step for mistakes.

[@bowserbreaker2515]

When I saw the trailer for this movie in theaters, my thoughts were, "The best part is the first 10 seconds where it showed footage from the original movies." This whole thing just looked so boring.

[@jodieg6318]

I had feeling that we had been so disappointed by Rings of Power and their take on the person they're calling Galadriel (whose problem wasn't that they made her a warrior but that they turned her into every That Guy you had the misfortune to play a TTRPG with) that it generated a lot of bad faith for this film. It seems that the filmmakers took a lot of the modern media criticisms on board but were so scared of making a character with the over powered traits that they forgot to make a character at all.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

It wasn't just that she was that guy who you dont wanna play DnD with, but that she STAYED that way throughout all of 2 seasons. You read up on Tolkien's Galadriel and she was headstrong and athletic and loved riding around on horses swinging swords (She was also like 6 foot 2, which she is NOT in RoP) all throughout the years of the trees and the first age of the Sun and moon, but by the time you get into the second age... she changes. She moves to Lothlorien with Celeborn, chills out and begins working on herself, finding value in humility so that one day she might feel worthy enough to return to Valinor. A tolerable RoP would have seen Galadriel beginning as a girlboss (Although I would have her girlboss marginally less and in quite different ways) and by the end of the second season, she should resemble the character we saw in Fellowship of the Ring, and by the fourth season would be indistinguishable from FotR Galadriel. They... did not do this.

[@Babe2Ruthless]

I wish we could just get a female main character with a traditional hero’s journey. Where she’s talented, but she’s not the best, and she has to go on some kind of quest where she overcomes her flaws and learns to be better through hard work, not a character who’s already super talented with nothing to learn because she’s Just That Amazing. Just give us a character we can bond with!

[@Fionalah]

That's the original 'Mulan', really

[@Rivershield]

That's a logical impossibility because the hero's journey is inherently masculine. What you should want is for women to have to complementary roles to men, not roles in which they replace men

[@voltaire9176]

​@@Rivershieldinherently masculine? Really? There's nothing inherently masculine about training or working hard to become better at something, there's nothing wrong with failing but getting back up to try and try again. What I just described is inherently human not purely masculine

[@Rivershield]

@voltaire9176 agreed. But the hero's journey is not just about any kind of self-improvement or hardship, but one that involves heroic dids, like the name suggests. The biggest characteristic of the hero is Self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifide is not a part of women's ontologicaly, but men's. Women are on the receiving end of a man's sacrifice, not the other way around. Sure you can revert the roles or change them at your will for entertainments sake, but I don't think the hero's journey is that cheap. One example of such is as follows: when a man sacrifices himself for a woman,he is doing his duty. When a woman sacrifices herself for a man (which by itself sounds absurd because it is basicaly unheard of), it is a failure of the men's part because he should be the one protecting her. All good female "heroes" will fall into this, they are either not shown making a sacrifice, or the idea of the sacrifice is cheapened so it doesn't have any real weight. Mulan is a good example, the very reason she felt compelled to step up is because her father could not do his duty as a man. The lesson of the original story that inspired Mulan is that her actions, although virtuous, are ultimately tragedy that resulted from a stupid tradition that forced men to serve even if they were no longer physically capable of doing so, if they had no male children. The lesson is a critique of that tradition. If her father was not forced to serve in order to protect his family's honor, Mulan would not have had to step up. Yet, in Disney's adaptation, in the first part of the movie Mulan is even shown to reject the idea of getting married, and it is implied that she wanted to be a warrior all along. In other words, women who undergo the hero's journey in media, even the most praised ones like Mulan, are conveyed in such a way that they seem to reject tradition and to purposefully step up to a masculine role. Do you see how the subversion happens? Thus, I don't have a problem with entertainment doing whatever it wants based on the whims of consumers. However, I do observe that such whims are manipulated by ideologues who use clever tricks and presentation to skew public opinion against traditional norms. As such, we should have a problem with the fact that we live in a generation that instigates us to compete with women, instead of having them complementing us. We are instigated to put them in masculine positions (like the heroic one), which results in the undermining of our own place in civilization as patriarchs, and to ascribe women virtues that they don't really have because if they were to exercise these virtues (like bravery and Self-sacrifice in combat), that would be counterproductive to women's important role: motherhood. Therefore, it is in that sense that i say we should reject the idea of the hero's journey with a woman.

[@Eilonwy95]

@@Rivershield I believe I agree with you on many points here. Men and women are complementary and have different roles. Men are excellent protectors and are almost exclusively the ones who have fought in battle historically. The one thing I would possibly disagree with ( unless I’m just misunderstanding you) is that men and women are not called to the same virtues. Your example was bravery and self sacrifice. I believe both men and women are called to these. Just in different ways. Bravery and self sacrifice on the battlefield or to protect one’s spouse are one way to express these virtues. But to be a good spouse, mother, friend, daughter etc, women absolutely are called to self sacrifice and courage. Child birth as an example takes both. It is different than fighting, but it does require these virtues to be done well. I don’t believe any virtues belong to one sex or the other. We are simply called to live them out differently depending on our state in life. Just as any man should have fortitude (courage) even if he never has the opportunity or calling to fight in a battle. As for Mulan, are you referring to the live action? I haven’t seen that one. But in the animated Disney, there is no indication at the beginning that she wants to fight or doesn’t want to marry. She just sucks at the superficial things the match maker is looking for. She’s actually trying really hard.

[@SuperXrayDoc]

She was unnamed in the book and naming her Hera using a Greek name instead of an Anglo-Saxon name is an insult to Tolkein and his language prowess. This movie should have been about Helm Hammerhand instead

[@crustboi93]

I agree, Helm absolutely should have been focus. Héra (the name does actually exist in Anglo-Saxon) at best should have been a tertiary character.

[@simonplumaj5542]

@@crustboi93 Héra in Anglo-Saxon means "male servant." WotR was lazy writing, through and through.

[@Alzbeta7]

I made a similar comment on the trailer about Helm being a better choice for main character. I had to remove it cause people got triggered lol. ...even though I'm a woman myself

[@scottybreuer]

​@@Alzbeta7 How very dare you. I must reeeeeeeeeeeee!

[@albertocruzado2899]

​@@Alzbeta7He is supposed to be the main character.

[@Ellebeeby]

To paraphrase King of the Hill: “You’re not making girlbosses any better, you’re just making Eowyn worse!”

[@scottybreuer]

This movie does not exist. Eowyn remains unspoiled.

[@jeffythesomething8772]

This is going to be one of the late 2024 projects that you can tell the studios thought Kamala Harris was going to win.

[@joanpalomaresjunquera2327]

@@jeffythesomething8772why are you putting politics in a video about how well written a character is don’t do that

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

Well king of the hill is next on the shocking block with the upcoming revival. Why would anyone believe for 1 second that a show of its characters and background will be done right in modern day after nu Hollywood's candidate lost?

[@adamstevens4718]

I didn't know the story of Helm Hammerhand before hearing about this movie, leading me to Tolkien's appendices, so at least the film pointed me to something actually good

[@justthinkingoutloud2538]

I was just relieved that, as far as girl-bosses go, Hera wasn't particularly unlikeable or overpowered, and didn't immasculate the men around her in the process. The movie's biggest issue isn't her character itself, just the overwhelming amount of unearned praise heaped on her by everyone else at every chance possible and the lack of focus on Helm.

[@jesserochon3103]

At no point in the movie did anyone praise her for anything, much less praise her unearned and for nothing. She did some heroic things but was never praised for them.

[@justthinkingoutloud2538]

@jesserochon3103 Uhhh... I'm sorry, but you clearly weren't paying attention. No offense. Most notably there's the narration at the beginning and end that just tell us how awesome she is without us seeing it for ourselves, and then there's all the times Helm tells her she was always right about everything all along and she could rule the world, and then just every side character from the shield maiden to Wulf's general describing her as brave and clever every five minutes. But beyond the abundance of verbal praise, it's really just the fact that, as Master Samwise said, everyone just treats her as the main character of the story and gives her way more credit and respect than she has any right to, from Helm treating her as Rohan's savior to Wulf focusing his whole revenge plot on her for some reason. I'm not saying she does nothing or has no traits that are worthy of admiration, she is kind, loving, brave, loyal, and intelligent, and she makes some crucial decisions, but my point was that the amount of praise she gets feels unnecessary, as if the writers don't know how else to make us like her besides telling us we should, and a lot of it just feels necessary to make the plot happen.

[@emperorkane317]

@@jesserochon3103 They very much did at the beginning and the end of the movie.

[@mr.s2005]

@@justthinkingoutloud2538 which really makes it bizarre that with all those qualities and how much even her father talked her up, she just abandons her country when it was going to take generations for Rohan to recover.

[@jojobookish9529]

Golly geez I do so wonder why the narrator, Eowyn, would describe a woman in Rohan's past who, maybe historical or maybe a folktale, was allowed to do everything Eowyn herself wished for in a vaunted and incredibly positive light...real head scratcher, that one. /s

[@n00bplayer72]

For me, the most annoying part was Hera's nanny, or whoever she was. The amount of plot armour that woman had, they could have just set her in front of the gates of Edoras and the enemy army would never have gotten in. She just teleports into the enemy base to save Hera, directly faces Wulf and escapes unscathed, at Helm's Deep she's the one calling shots (did ALL the other captains and generals die?!) and in the last battle she stands in the breach of the wall by herself and holds off most of the enemies. I seriously thought that was where she was going to die, but nope, she's completely unscathed by the end!!

[@jojobookish9529]

I overall enjoyed the film, but that stuck out to me as very odd, almost like some was cut for time. They missed a great opportunity during the Isengard escape to show Olwyn sneaking through the camp disguised as a cook or a laundress or healer, roles women would have historically been brought along to the front lines for. It would have served the double purpose of showing us how she got there while also highlighting how all that labor, women's labor, was so invisible/part of the background to the warriors that they didn't bother to pay attention to who was doing it. That's something I would expect a crafty old serving woman, shield maiden or not, to know. It could have supported the themes without a single word spoken.

[@RGS1970]

💯 correct, the whole film didn't make sense, wulf history doesn't make sense and that is the problem when people try to add new characters to the lore of novels very well written with so much detail in the original so adding new things would always be odd with the flow of the orginal

[@MorgothsBalrog]

Thank you for being honest. This movie is so disappointing. It had a few good moments, but the bad outweighs the few good moments. But it is better than Rings of Power.

[@alsoniagaming]

Thats not a bar anyone should use to measure their movie by. You need to bring a shovel to go under Rings of Power man.

[@MorgothsBalrog]

@alsoniagaming I know that, but the bar had been set by Rings of Power. So anything Tolkien related that comes out in the future will most definitely be compared to Rings of Power.

[@mr.s2005]

that is what stopped it from being a good movie and just an okay movie. Wouldn't say it was wrong to focus on the daughter, but having a strong female character being only strong because she's the one pointing tactics to the more experienced officers should know better and "always" being right over even her father means its not actually a strong character. Even the old Shield maiden was coming up with more ideas and even giving orders to soldiers when there were Lords in the keep that should have been there. Still give it a 6/10 since I was entertained other than a few cringle lines, the downplaying of what should have been the main characters, and what she did at the end of the moive.......but adaption is 3.5 out of 10.

[@reactiondavant-garde3391]

@@MorgothsBalrog Everything came out should be measered to Tolkien's own writing not to some delirious hate-fiction.

[@Nightwizard63]

"Hey! Are you tired of the girl boss in rings of power?! 😯 well then you'll enjoy this film instead, where you'll be getting more girl boss"

[@Theonionofthedisneyjuniorlore]

But look at the bright side, at least it’s animated and not live-action

[@sulphuric_glue4468]

@Theonionofthedisneyjuniorlore Yeah even though it's slop I'm glad that it's another big example of animation being taken seriously

[@chrishunt586]

I disagree if you are referring to Hera as a girlboss, she has moments where she clearly needs someone else's help. She is captured and needs her comrades to rescue her. She is facing off enemies alone and still requires aid. This isn't some typical Hollywood marysue story

[@oXRaptorzXo]

Hera is less of a girl boss than Eowyn. If you like Eowyn you shouldn’t have an issue

[@justthinkingoutloud2538]

I was just relieved that, as far as girl-bosses go, Hera wasn't particularly unlikeable or overpowered, and didn't immasculate the men around her in the process. The movie's biggest issue isn't her character itself, just the overwhelming amount of unearned praise heaped on her by everyone else at every chance possible.

[@randomchannel323]

I thought Wulf was cartoonishly evil

[@Keram-io8hv]

For me he was truly pathetic when you realize he was just throwing tantrum because of friendzone, damn he was weakest in the movie

[@Jebbtube]

It's important to note that this film was thrown together practically overnight so New Line could hold on to the LotR license, and the fact that they got they got the director of Akira to direct this is impressive in and of itself.

[@dhfvrfhjcfbbrfb]

I wish they would stop hoarding the rights and let someone else take a crack at adapting LotR. Peter Jackson’s trilogy was great but I’m tired of seeing his version of middle earth.

[@CsnvLsRnst]

​@@dhfvrfhjcfbbrfb I couldn't agree more. Anytime I see the names of Jackson, Boyens and Walsh attached to a new Middle-earth adaptaption, I sigh. Are we really that scared of finding new voices and visions for these stories? As great and groubdbreaking as Jackson's films are, it's been more that twenty years, and by this point Jackson (and co.) is no longer the young, passionate filmmaker who wanted to bring this epic story to life. He is a rich businessman for whom the legendarium has become just his favorite "I.P." (to use the soulless corporate word) to make a profit from.

[@AJX-2]

@@dhfvrfhjcfbbrfb I love love to see an animated adaptation that takes its visual cues from Tolkien's own illustrations. A much more subdued, down-to-earth, and yet whimsical and slightly fantastical Middle-Earth.

[@elliotnemeth]

@@dhfvrfhjcfbbrfb I get that, but at the same time it's more likely someone like Disney or Amazon would buy it up and make another cash grab.

[@denkillen]

Ghost in the Shell, not Akira.

[@CabooseRvB343]

From your videos I have learned much and found a new greater appreciation for the original Lord of the Rings movies

[@1701EarlGrey]

Call me stupid by I thought that theme of the movie was pride and how it leads rulers to make bad, irrational decisions. I thought that Helm Hammerhand was prideful and that lead him to his dewfall - same with Wulf - at few points he could easily won if he wasn't so prideful; like if he accepted Hera's offer to merry him when he captured her or when only handful of starving refuges left behind Hornburg's has left and he could abandon the siege. Other than that I unfortunately have to agree with you about most things you said about this film. My biggest regret that even though movie was longer that it should, it still was pretty shallow and didn't really explored interesting aspect of Rohan politics - from the movie I didn't get any real reason for antagonism between Dunlendings and Rohirrim, why they hate each other. As you said; it's wasted potential...

[@Eilonwy95]

Oh I like that as a theory

[@FillingPassports]

This was at best a "Made for TV" movie. The animation was basic, the dialoged stilted and the battle scenes were unbelievable. Went in with low expectations and it met those low expectations.

[@thewerdandi]

As Jeremy Jahns said in his review, Warner Bros made this movie to retain rights for the IP - and this is why it was so similar to Jackson's Middle Earth, because it was in it. Of course I don't know if Jeremy is right on this one.

[@ChienaAvtzon]

WB admitted a few years ago, this movie was only greenlit for production to keep the film rights to “Lord of the Rings”. Which is the worst reason to ever make a movie.

[@MS-ii1sv]

​@@ChienaAvtzonIt might be a bad reason to make a movie but they should have viewed it as an opportunity to win fans by doing justice to the property.

[@NerdGuy-xy9jn]

spoilers ahead warning. As someone who liked the movie I can see all your points and i even agree with some if not many, but is it weird that I still really enjoyed it, I mean I loved the character design and the overall cast was interesting to me, i had no idea what the movie was about going in too, so maybe my personal feelings for the original trilogy played a part in my opinions but i really enjoyed the simplicity actually it was perfectly written at all nor was it devastating its was quite to to the point but in a way i liked that because it felt like a tale you didnt get all the smaller details you got what you needed for it to make sense. the main character was someone i quite liked, she held her family close, she was arrogant but also loyal to her father even if by no means was the wisest, he made fatal flaws its why he was driven into helms deep, and hera warned him against this because she saw the armies of wulf, and him not listening to her showed his arrogance him learning to pass on the mantle i think is quite inspiring as its more about him realising his turn is up as king, someone new someone who has younger ideas needs to lead, which is why the mantel of king is passed on to the new king not even hera as she never wanted to lead, but she did it anyway when she had to in helms deep. i do still have 3 minutes of the video but some stuff like that im not sure if you mentioned. im not a movie critic by any means by the way, i just enjoyed watching something different for once, music was splendid too

[@NerdGuy-xy9jn]

after finishing the video, all ill say is i wish youd have enjoyed it but i understand why you wouldnt. for me character writing is somewhere in 2nd or 3rd place i love visuals above all else and dont get me wrong the visuals werent perfect but i wasnt expecting perfect anyway, the visuals added to the movie, i also really love sounds which in my opinion were phenomenal. um it was fun typing bye

[@michaelman957]

I appreciate that they didn't make her obnoxious, but they forgot to make her... anything.

[@akiraishin7141]

Kenji Kamiyama was the director of the least liked version of Ghost in a Shell, the art style also looked so generic that I decided from the start not to watch it.

[@GSal6]

The animation was spectacular in some instances but also very dull and stagnant in other scenes

[@kurtisbennett7272]

Love the content. Especially your Kratos content. As a newer father it really helped put things into a perspective i think I needed. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@Capt.Steele]

I really love your content because you don't just spew out culture war buzzwords to describe a problem with the product, you give a proper introspective and really digging deep on why something is or isn't good. It's getting harder and harder to find honest unbiased reviews these days, so I thank you for all your efforts!

[@thomasparsons9866]

Wasn’t the worst, definitely not the best. If I had young kids I wouldn’t mind putting this on for them once or twice. Beyond that, my feelings towards it is best expressed as a shoulder shrug.

[@magmafang]

I'm glad that you focused on mainly the issues concerning the story/writing aspect of this film, as opposed to for example the visuals where I've seen all too many people complain about when they clearly do not understand the medium (Japanese anime)!

[@ShinzoAkira69]

I am sorry but this is NOT an anime as it was clearly not created nor was it produced by any Japanese studio. This is simply an animation created by Western studios for which the visuals took inspiration from anime. Just as Castlevania, Avatar the last airbender and the legend of korra are all animation tv series created by western studios that take inspiration from Japanese animation, so is War of the Rohirim.

[@daisy3525]

Personally, anime is my main media interest and focus of analysis, but even by those standards, for a movie of this caliber, I found the animation frankly inept. It wasn't AWFUL, there were gorgeous backgrounds and character designs that animated well enough, but the composting was awful-more often than not, the characters didn't look like they belonged in the same style and world as the backgrounds, and that's NOT something that can be attributed to anime productions as a whole-and while there was decent action, and some scenes were very well animated, overall it just wasn't to the caliber of a big, cinematic movie production like this, and half the time, character movement was clunky and stiff in an awkward way that can't be attributed to the limited animation style that anime productions would sometimes employ to cut corners. In fact the whole point of those limited animation moments, when done well, is to make things look good while NOT being obvious that you're cutting corners, on a casual watch, at least. No, I wouldn't say the animation was TERRIBLE. Like I said, it had beautiful backgrounds, good individual bits of animation, decent character models for what it was going for, and overall moved smoothly enough. It was just generally lacking in the kind of quality that a production of this magnitude would normally entail, and that just sticks out all the more when other aspects of the movie also fail to deliver on the kind of quality you'd expect.

[@aurawry]

Full disclosure, I did not watch the movie. But did anyone else notice that it looked... cheap? Like comparitive to so many other movies from animated tv shows... did they have a smaller budget? The team that animated this clearly has a lot of good experience, but it looks like the animation of a standard episode from a weekly anime, with most moments not fully animated to save up budget for the fight scenes that are much more smooth. But even the lighting, shading, all looks just.... meh. As someone who's watched a lot of movies in this style, I KNOW it could have looked much better.

[@Aentium]

It certainly felt... amateur. Like, some moments were overly animated for absolutely no reason, like reactions that linger for too long and lead nowhere, or shots spinning around a character like three times for absolutely no reason. Musci was also mid, besides some of the original soundtrack, which, by contrast, made the new ost stand out as mediocre. It lacked in almost every department

[@cuthalion4281]

I did not watch the movie, but just from seeing clips I agree with you. It doesn't look up to par for what I expect from an anime film. I think they had 2-3 years to work on it, so what were they doing with that time?

[@Potato-yr2lw]

I don't know if this is true but I was told that it was an American studio that doesn't have much experience with this style

[@emperorkane317]

There is speculation that Warner didn't care whether War of the Rohirrim was a success or not. They only made it so they can meet contract quota so they can retain the rights to Tolkien's works.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

How tha fuck can it be anime then if it's made entirely by Americans. That's like saying "Oh we got this premier Cheddar cheese, made in fuckin Poland." or "We got this beautiful champagne, grapes grown in Arkansas" Wat the fuck?

[@ThatWritingGuy]

4:44 The idea that everything in the story revolves around Hera didn’t bother me because of the story’s framework. Eowyn is recounting a legend. Of course everyone’s favorite shield maiden of Rohan is going to focus on a past shield maiden when she tells a story. And isn’t every fireside legend focused around its protagonist? Beowulf is focused around the deeds of Beowulf. The Odyssey is focused around Odysseus and his journey. We don’t see other people’s perspectives because that’s just not the style of legend they wanted to go with. Absolutely agree with some of your other points though.

[@queenberuthiel5469]

I mean it's titled LOTR: War of the Rohirrim.. 😅😅😅

[@ThatWritingGuy]

@ Fair enough. It could be titled better.

[@maexslg-at]

False advertising then, we were promised War of the Rohirrim and then got The Story of this unnamed unspecified female character.

[@queenberuthiel5469]

@@maexslg-at Same issue with the LOTR: Rings of Power.

[@TheGentlemansKitchen]

I don't know if I'm with you on this one. I loved this movie, but I never felt like Hera was the main character of the film. The idea of Rohan was, and when criticizing from that perspective, I feel there's a very different tone struck. We weren't watching the heros journey of Hera, but of the kingdom. Very great video BTW love your work.

[@NDTexan]

I just wanted a simple depiction of the Helm story and the Helm story does not include a daughter of any true significance beyond the original marriage proposal. She was unnamed in the brief story for a reason. And it certainly doesn't include that daughter being a super mega unbeatable hero, basically cosplaying with the same beats as Merida from Disney's Brave. Tolkien was a humanist and this movie is just modern era feminist claptrap. People claiming it's good because it's slightly better than rings of power are dunking on themselves. It's not good because it cleared the lowest bar. It's just slightly less terrible

[@squikeeee]

if you haven't seen it already Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, is an actually good fantasy anime

[@AincradKnightNatlis]

That one actually reminded me quite a lot of LotR, namely from the magic system being some combination of hard and soft and Aureole instantly reminding me of the Undying Lands.

[@thethirdsicily4802]

@@AincradKnightNatlis I honestly don't know what it is, but yeah Frieren really does have a significant LOTR vibe to it.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

It's so LotR it hurts. Frieren is absolutely a LotR elf, like she's a Noldor. The main theme around her is her eternality verses everyone else's ephemerality. That is a major theme regarding the elves, that by being in middle earth and watching everything around them die and be born and die and be born and die and be born over and over and over and over causes them much pain. Hell, iirc that was part of the point of the rings in the first place, Sauron promised they could be used to make men and dwarves live longer so the elves didnt have to see every generation sequentially being born, growing old and dying.

[@dhfvrfhjcfbbrfb]

@@moritamikamikara3879 amazing to see how they zeroed in on the emotional core of Tolkien’s work, which is the melancholy contrast between mortality and immortality, while Rings of Power never figured out how to do that.

[@kaleblam5084]

It’s not the idea of expanding upon the daughter of Helm Hammerhand that was bad. We saw this in the original Lord of the rings trilogy with Arwen and it did well because it furthered the plot in a meaningful way and it made Aragorn’s relationship with her even more rewarding when they got together, this just feels like they were trying to shoehorn in something that wasn’t there in the first place. I also don’t think it was a bad idea necessarily for helm hammer hand to not be the central focus, I just think it should’ve been his nephew, Frealaf, who ended the war in the original. This is the issue I have with feminist media, the men have to be dragged down for the women to shine. Sorry I needed to get that out of my system

[@offtheshelfET]

We’re all free to have different opinions but personally, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this film. However, I think there were many changes I would have made to the story. 1. Instead of having Héra refuse Wulf’s hand in marriage at the Witan, have her accept it to try and avoid conflict between Helm and Freca and have it be Helm who acts impulsively by turning Freca down. That way the “I should have listened to you” moment from Helm at the end would’ve made more sense and Héra saying “everything you’ve done is for your people” would’ve been more impactful as it would’ve shown Héra’s growth, a moment of her finally understanding her father’s actions. 2. Héra should’ve died. It would’ve been a more poetic way to end her character to have her sacrificing herself in the place where her father died. Let Wulf get all that he wants in the end only to find he is still unhappy. He can then return to the ruins of Edoras to declare himself kings and the moment of realization that he gained nothing would set in on him. There, Frealaf would show up killing him and taking the throne as he is supposed to in the book.

[@jrconway3]

It really does make a lot more sense to have her die. Helm and his sons both die. Her dying in the war, too, makes a lot of sense, justifying Frealeaf taking the throne even more. The irony is the film uses Miranda Otto as Ewoyn to try and promote Hera even though Ewoyn is descended from Frealeaf....

[@offtheshelfET]

It’s funny, the more and more I think about it, the less I like this film. Mainly because there was so much they could have done that they didn’t.

[@alexandersebela370]

@@offtheshelfET no she didnt had to die. What sense would it make? Its as writing saruman should die as all orcs in film ealy as sacrifice, woudnt it be poetic? He died becouse orcs in first 10 minutes died.... Thats really nonsense.

[@casualmentebiancoblu5040]

I found the movie very beautiful. It undoubtedly conveys the Tolkienesque and fantasy atmosphere, unlike Rings of Power, where the dialogues seem taken from ordinary conversations of our times. In The War of the Rohirrim, everything is faithful to the fantasy atmosphere. I see nothing wrong with the fact that Hera is an invented character.

[@mordreek]

Helm was a Berserker, and he even goes down like one. They changed that and it took away a key part of his story

[@thecockman]

I’m sorry, they did NOT change that. Did you watch the movie?? He took on an army with his bare hands and though he died he WON

[@carnilino.m]

What did they change?

[@hito21-87]

Just watched this movie yesterday and I loved it. The music was good, the animation was good and I think this style works really well for Lord of the Rings. The story was good and the characters were well developed. the cameos and the connections with the other movies were a nice touch. Overall this was a good movie and I’ll defend it at all costs. 8/10

[@nenadmilovanovic5271]

So the movie was good because it was good? Lol

[@hito21-87]

@ yep

[@user-kl5zd2oe3e]

Wouldn't it be cool if this was done in the 80's by Studio Madhouse? You know, like Record of Lodoss War? It would have been a lot more accurate too, especially with economic bubble money. Yeah, the last part was different than the novels, but the Grey Witch arc was pretty accurate. I'm sure they would have whipped something together that was pretty awesome.

[@himelotus159]

I remember when they were making this movie they said something about Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or Ghibli type "strong female character.' I'm unsure if they watched any of Ghibli films, yes these characters are strong but I do remember the studio not making the males dumb and irrelevant. Even the villains in Ghibli are smart, calculating, and intimidating against protagonist(s) who are at times children themselves.

[@thecondorflyght8964]

The biggest problem with this film was how slow it was, and it never felt like part of a larger conflict. It felt more like one battle, then evacuating to Helm's deep, then a small anticlimatic battle at the end. At least in the original movies it felt like large conflicts were going off everywhere, but we focus on the most important stuff. Once they got to Helm's Deep, it was incredibly slow and boring. And my interest was no longer held once they got to the final duel.

[@mr.s2005]

. They didn't explain that Gondor was being attacked at the same time which would have shown it wasn't just Rohan being stubborn in calling for aid but a part of a larger conflict that came so close to destroying both nations. Think one issue is that they didn't show the passage of time for the siege other than the dunlendings's tower either. They imply Helm has been going out and taking them out one second, the rohirrim wondering if he's turn into a monster, but then they show Hera waking up like it was the first time he was gone. Pretty much the same for me when it came to the ending, it had dragged out so much I found myself barely interesting in the duel and only got interested again when Fealaf showed up but even that quickly turned into a lackluster event.

[@nathanholt1834]

Hi! I’m one of those people who found the movie inspiring/edifying! I do really like your videos, so please understand I’m disagreeing respectfully. My wife and I saw it together and loved it, here are some of our thoughts, in brief. I wasn’t very familiar with the original story, and went back and read those three pages after the movie, and was very pleasantly surprised how close it was. I would even say they were extremely respectful of Tolkien’s work. I think Helm had much more of an arc than “trust Hera.” I felt more his battle with despair, and his noble self-sacrifice. I also really enjoyed Wulf as a villain, I loved watching his consistent character flaw push him further and further into dishonor. And Hera herself, as you pointed out, avoided many of the modern female protagonist pitfalls. She reminded me much more of animated Mulan than live action Mulan, overcoming her challenges through cunning rather than brute force. Overall, I found it to be a very ‘moral’ film, about honor and compassion triumphing over dishonor, vengeance, and obsession. I don’t expect to or aim to change anyone’s mind about the film, it certainly has its flaws, but I hope everyone gives it a chance, as you may be pleasantly surprised like we were.

[@r_valentine7349]

thank you, i feel as if you understand hammerhand

[@sjins1poolboy698]

I quite enjoyed the movie, I don't think it was a masterpiece by any standard though and you make good points regarding its flaws. I agree a lot of the characters were missing depth but I enjoyed Helm's character (absolutely agree the change to Freca's death is a strange choice that makes Helm, a lot more sympathetic). A big thing I think going in was I was prepared for Hera to be another Captain Marvelesque girl boss, and while I agree it was odd that she had very little in the way of character arc, at least she was a character with motivations beyond "be better than the men" so that was definitely a relief and I could sympathise with her character and her struggles. Anyway, I for one enjoyed some Tolkien on screen that didn't go the full rings of power when it came to the established lore.

[@scottjacobsen5894]

I agree with 95% of everything you said, apart from a handful of nuances, except for Wulf. I found Wulf to be a fascinating character robbed of potential due to lack of buildup. It might just be a me thing but i could totally see Wulf performing cowardly, cutthroat and deceptive tactics to take command of the Dunlenders only for his spite and desperate need for revenge cloud his judgement when he sees Hera again. His potential for allegory, the spurned/castout young man, was begging to be explored. Something VERY relevent today. Also her name beimg Hera shocked the hell out of me i thought i heard it wrong. Like wheres my beautiful anglo-germanic naming scheme😢. Though, i didnt find her to be a Mary Sue in the slightest. Granny shield maiden on the other hand was a train wreck.

[@scottjacobsen5894]

Also something that was made clear was that Wulf was a dogshit and cowardly fighter. His characterization came from constantly grabbing his knife. Furthermore, he really didn't fight anyone head-on, undermining the idea that women defeating him were mary sues (in that case only).

[@battleshipboyd2758]

I actually really liked it. The music and animation were great. I didn't really get a girlboss vibe from Hera, and believe me I was worried that they were gonna make this a female empowerment LOTR edition. I'm one of the first to groan and complain when shows or movies use that trope, but I don't think she was overpowered or anything like that. I respect everyone's opinion and they are most certainly entitled to it, but I think a lot of people were going into the movie wanting to hate it. If you look hard enough for things to not like in any piece of media you will always find it.

[@MonroesArtStudio]

I like it. Solid b+

[@anonanon3112]

It's essentially modern slop. Just because the standard these days is 3/10 doesn't change the fact that a 5/10 is an F.

[@KraytDragon1138]

I always love your thoughts Master Samwise. In this case, this movie really worked for me. Helm was iconic, his lines were (imo) super well written and well delivered. Despite his pride, which led him to underestimate his enemy and fail to call for aid when he had the chance, in the end he embodied sacrifice and strength. Wulf was a classic villain. I don't need all my villains to be complex to feel real and impactful. I like a villain who is overcome by his vice, in this case vengeance. And Hera was a great pov character. While not the most unique protagonist, she was a leader who took responsibility when her people needed her to and gave up power when it was offered to her. In Rings of Power, Galadriel feels like a girl boss. Hera felt like a hero to me. She wasn't just better than everyone at everything. She overcame serious hardship and never quit fighting.

[@Nystagmus8123]

It was going to be bad when the trailer released and it leaned so much on scenes from the trilogy. I felt the keys being jangled in my face when the first three or four scenes I saw were from Peter Jackson and not the original work. I wanted this movie when it was announced. I wanted to like it. This is my favorite faction in LotR, and they just missed the (Ridder)mark so bad. Also, I don't think this is the best medium for the movie. Anime artists are amazing at what they do, but holy hells they cannot draw horses. They always end of having weird proportions and unnatural angles. But they used it for a movie called War of the Rohirrim. Land of the Horse Lords *face palm*.

[@cal7447]

The moment you see the trailer you know it's doomed

[@cal7447]

To be clear I'm all for for anime adoptations, I just feel they chose the wrong studio and art direction, among other things

[@Draconisrex1]

There was no potential in a story focusing on an unnamed character from a footnote. Worse, in Tolkien's world, there really is no room for bad-ass, warrior girl-bosses. This is not to say females were weaker or powerless. Females in Tolkien's universe, from the Valar to the most common Hobbit, exert their power in different ways from males, and the two sexes are equally important. These different modes of power between the two sexes result in the relative lack of female characters compared to the number of males. So this Galadriel, one of the most powerful of the Noldor was no warrior girl-boss. Luthien, probably the most powerful of the Elves and half-elves (being half Maia), used the power of Elven magic to rescue Beren and enchant Morgoth. The Entwives grew great gardens while the Ents tamed and herded the wild forests. Their power was, simply put, different. Much more about supporting peace and life, hence Lothlorien. Hence Arwen turning away from being a shieldmaiden and becoming healer at the end of The Return of the King. These people are incapable of understanding that. If a woman isn't a bad-ass, girl-boss then she is worthless. Which is feminism in a nutshell.

[@caril.9384]

do you mean Eowyn?

[@CarnisianLady]

And you are praising the greatest mary sue ever *cough* Luthien *cough*

[@moritamikamikara3879]

Feminism treats women like they are defective men. Which is odd given that our schools treat boys like they are defective girls. Why do we do this to ourselves?

[@Undomaranel]

​@@CarnisianLady I'd argue the women in Dracula and anything Jane Austin wrote are far more Mary Sues than Luthien. You also have to understand Tolkien as a person to fully comprehend why he found endurance and never giving up and always moving forward despite insane adversity to be heroic. His Christian values and experiences in WW1 trenched gave him a survivor's perspective on what bravery really is. Luthien faced the powers of hell to save Beren and claim the Silmaril, and like every other Orphic myth before her she had strengths and weaknesses. The difference was that Luthien did not succumb to her elven pride or any mortal (adjacent) fears. She pressed on, never giving in, and was rewarded with victory not unlike Cinderella and Snow White and every other fairy tale heroine before her. Luthien was not a girl boss, succeeding without merit, striking poses as the bad choreography showed her winning. She was a literary metaphor representing love, enduring hardship, loyalty, knowing when to use what skillset, and how to be a good partner. Tolkien understood that women do not naturally value combat for dominance, and instead we're far more political, social, and supportive. We want to manage and distribute resources. We want to help build and upkeep. We want to help those we care about find their own worth. That's what Tolkien's women characters are, actual women, not girls pretending to be boys while shunning learning healing skills because it's not violent. And Luthien's story? She approached her tasks as a woman who cared about her lover and stooped to the level of trickery and skirting evil to do so, both things that people applaud Frodo for but somehow make a Mary Sue out of her...

[@Eilonwy95]

@@UndomaranelI totally agree that Tolkiens female characters have great depth. But which characters in Jane Austen are Mary Sues exactly?

[@michaelman957]

That was a great mic drop of a final line, Sam. It summarized the core problem. Perfection.

[@Drragnorr]

To me this movie is the definition of ok movie, which you watch once and forget. If the movie characters have been drawn the same way as during the end credits and thus didnt clash so much with the detailed backgrounds, It would be worth the ticket, just to watch the art. Sadly It is not.Story is very simple, dialog uses too many lines just to play on your nostalgia of a better movie.I can take It as a tale told to children by Gandalf at some firecamp and nothing more.

[@MarcAlcatraz]

This movie feels like it was written in 2018

[@jonahrains7483]

So, they basically took a nameless character and made her the lead - over all the characters who should've been the lead. This is why we hate woke.

[@claytonrios1]

Hera could have been a lot better but I do think this was better than Galadriel in Rings of Power. Even if that's not saying much.

[@chrishunt586]

I quite enjoyed the film. I thought Hera was a strong capable character without being "strong girl just because" I don't think there was any over exaggerated gender bias shoe-horned into the movie either. Night and day compared to rings of power. May have felt a bit too similar to The Two Towers due to the setting focus, but makes sense since it is a Rohan centered story. I would love to see more films like this one. I give it an 8/10.

[@haleyschreiter9746]

When I saw an older woman in the trailer, I assumed it was Helm's sister, Hild. But apparently not 😕

[@felisenpai9625]

I do agree with the majority of your opinions, but I wanted to add something about Hera, her most praiseworthy character trait that we see in the movie, not being told about is INDEPENDENCE. Her independence isn't annoying or making Hera hate her family like many modern shows about the autonomy of women show these days. She is teaching an audience that non-conforming to social norms expected of her, firstly isn't a bad thing, secondly, it doesn't mean it puts you in conflict with everyone, it teaches the value of having a family even if some of them don't agree with your ideas about your own future. I'm a lesbian woman in her 20s, went to see the movie on Christmas break with my fantasy-interested female friend, I'm a massive Tolkien fangirl (I am not very familiar with the Rohirrim lore tho), and she has just basic knowledge about the Tolkien world, I was seated between my friend, and a young girl somewhere around 10 - 12 years old girl, next to her was her father, clearly a Tolkien fan, cause he sometimes had to quietly explain some parts to the daughter, I live in high English proficiency but not native English country, and the movie was only available in English with Polish subtitles. The film was clearly very fun for the daughter, and Dad appreciated the movie, I asked him, what he liked the most after a sudden conversation sparked. He said it was nice to see his daughter have a positive role model in Hera for independence, as his daughter is growing up and has done more things alone in school, even if he found the movie just alright. I heard a lot of bad about the movie, from comments on internet forums, so came with low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised, men played such a massive important role in this movie, and the deaths were impactful. It's sad we didn't get more flashbacks about Hera and her brothers, or her childhood friend turned villain. All your points are well-earned movie, deserves those critics, thanks for being a fair reviewer and not just being hateful because the movie has a female main character. I personally found the story first and foremost astonished by the cool deaths in the movie, even if the characters were shallow, and Hera didn't have a growth arc, she did resonate with my daily experiences, I really liked the movie! On the other hand, I was really annoyed by the backgrounds of Rohan Steppe lands looking bland, 2ndly with often using quotes from the Peter Jackson trilogy.

[@SamGlaze]

The biggest issue I had with the movie is that it was just Eowyn again

[@xmaryHXCx]

As a girl, I cannot tell you how sick I am of the girl boss trope.

[@carnilino.m]

Right? You should watch the movie then, Hera is not a girl boss.

[@hharden4969]

Much agreed! A a fellow female myself, this trope was already getting old fast and this just cements it even further that it needs to stop.

[@RJ420NL]

My dislike of this movie is based on: 1. They should have focused on Helm instead of a character who was barely mentioned in the source material. But of course the modern "entertainment" industry must replace men. 2. The animation. It's the wrong style for this story. Also, with current tech they could have done much better. 3. The writing. It's immature, dull and lame.

[@barbararey-constantin5679]

I rarely go to the movies any more precisely due to the point you made, the hero's journey is usually not inspiring. I kid you not, I got to the cinema early and later someone pulled the fire alarm. So, in a roundabout way I was saved from a lower quality version of Tolkien. Thanks, I always appreciate your reviews and point of view.

[@liborrajm2916]

Imagine this being from a director who brought to life some of the best (anime) female characters - Motoko and Balsa. Was disappointed that he agreed to such a script rather than walking away.

[@Amateur_Ambiance]

The quality of the animation and design was really hard to watch, it’s like they primarily focused on making JUST the characters look alive.

[@Schellnino1994]

I really like it. It felt like a spiritual sequel to Bakshi's 70's film (which is one of my favorites) and also a in continuity with my favorite film (Fellowship 2001)

[@AidanHorgan-357]

I won’t lie, I really liked the movie when I first watched it theatres two days ago. But your video exposed a lot of flaws, I think. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still like the movie, (The art style is gorgeous and the story has a lot of great moments) but now I’ll take it with a grain of salt. Great video!

[@theonedraven8007]

Gusy wake up! New Master Samwise video. seriously, thank you for all the great, nuanced, and balanced takes. youre a pro my dude. If you want a good character analysis to look into with solid rpg gameplay. the Tales of Berseria (Velvet) and Tales of Zesteria (Direct sequel to Berseria) have some of th ebest written characters in jrpgs

[@soggycracker5934]

I have a feeling they redid a bunch of it at the last moment, in response to the disgust many people are feeling over much of the crap "storytelling" today. It was meant to be a girl-boss teaching the inferior men around her just how inferior they were. Then they panicked and scrapped most of the story, only to stitch up the remains into the dead flesh golem that reached theaters... Overall, not terrible, but not good either. Hopefully enough of these failures will end the nonsense.

[@daisy3525]

Personally, the scene of Helm's sacrifice was the most laughably handled moment in the entire movie, in my opinion. I love me a self sacrifice scene normally, even one with the smallest possible amount of competence, but this was the first time a scene like that had me burst out laughing hysterically and trying desperately to muffle my laughter in the cinema. It was so badly handled, so pointless just through it's incompetent execution and so badly framed and executed, both scripy wise and visually, I genuinely could not stop laughing at the sheer incompetence despite trying my best to hold it back for the sake of other people in the room with me.

[@SomeGuyXD65]

The second time I've ever walked out on a movie

[@Joe-Przybranowski]

I walked out of the first of the hobbit abortions.

[@farahahmed8201]

What was the first movie?

[@raptortown]

What was the 1st?

[@oXRaptorzXo]

Why would you walk out of this one it’s not even bad

[@figwit-rh4mw]

​@@Hat_With_A_Hat_On😂

[@danielcarrillo4385]

Honestly there was so much potential and Hera could have been used for so many plot points....Wulf mentioned discrimination from his heritage, they had a veteran shieldmaiden and even show the Orcs looking for the ring.....I'm not sure Hollywood exactly remembers why we like Tolkien

[@Nargon46]

Yeah. I kinda figured unfortunately. Oh well! Next!

[@TheArisen_]

I have watched the movie and I have to add some scenes that baffled me…not in order (spoilers ahead) 1) Hera and Helm practically being immune to hypothermia 2) Helm being absolutely fine after his „not waking“ period aka mini coma. 3) Non of Heras plans failed. She is literally a Mary Sue and it kills me, because she had so much potential. But the only thing she gets is lip service and we barely see all those great things she was supposed to be, like ‚being the fastest rider of Helms riders“ 4) Hera, Helm and the old shield maiden being able to pry open a semi-frozen giant ass gate with their bare hands that the guards failed to pry open with their engineered system bc it was…semi-frozen 🤦🏻‍♀️ 5) Hera being able to overpower a hateful, revenge fueled warrior with that giant weight/height class difference 6) unfulfilled opportunities to show us where her expertise with a shield came from or fighting at all other than her training with Wulf 7) Hera jumping over a Sword swing mid fig he without that long ass wedding dress being caught up on any part of the swing ….as if she had a double jump mechanic 8)none of the archers raining arrows down on Wulf and his advisor after they killed the prince hostage…like, they were right there and non of the archers had a reason to be careful bc the prince was not a meatshield anymore 9)all the refuges not leaving despite Hera risking her life to distract Wulf 10) you telling me those oliphaunts coming into battle wasn’t felt…boi they were wearing lamps and walking into battle on an open field. Like…bro??? 11) Wulf was an absolutely unimpressive villain…he was emotional and that’s basically the reason for everything, like…? We doing this bc you have a tantrum?? 🤦🏻‍♀️ 12) girls get it done trope (love it when they do it right, but they heavily missed with that one. 13)they made most of the men in this movie look incompetent until Hera stepped in And many more. Watch it for yourself. My friend thought it was entertaining. I laughed and cringed at scenes that probably shouldn’t have gotten that reaction bc it was just awful to watch.

[@Oozaru85]

It was never meant to be an outstanding, interesting movie. It was meant to be a rights retainer, clearly. Nothing more.

[@oceanesdiary]

I don’t really agree with you on this review. I usually enjoy your videos but this feels like you just put this movie in a bucket because the POV is from Hera. Could it have been from Helm? Yeah. Hera is used as a narrative choice to immerse us the story in a non traditional way, almost as if we were watching ourselves the characters. Not saying this movie is the greatest, but I truly think it’s an enjoyable movie. I didn’t think Hera had “girlboss” moment, on the opposite of Rings of Power.

[@Eilonwy95]

Honestly I think his issues with the movie stemmed a lot more from pacing, shoehorning in references to LotR (just in awkward ways. I love a good reference), and plot/logical flaws. He says Hera was actually a pretty decent person. He just wished she would have had more/better done character development. She wasn’t really “girlbossy” I agree. Another thing to keep in mind is this is his review after one watch. He has admitted that maybe on a rewatch or several he would see new things and enjoy it more.

[@Don-ds3dy]

Most of the recent so called "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" media would be SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED if they didn't take place in an already established universe with established rules that didnt contradict the established lore. IE, Rings of Power having loving orc families instead of being monsters brought about by unnatural means or the Force in Disney Starwars being mastered withon a few days.

[@benjaminmclaren8782]

The problem with character growth, is that they have to start in a sub optimal role. So if you want to write a selfless character, do you start them off as selfish? If you do that, people might not like them. And if they are a female character, you can't have people not liking them. So write them as perfect. Yeah, everyone likes perfect characters. And if you don't like perfection, then you must hate women. This thought trap is very easy to fall into. And I don't blame people for falling victim, just for dragging others down with them. Growing things takes time and effort. And some writers just don't want to do that.

[@nathaniellong4281]

Hera does look attractive. She's definitely a woman, not like the girlbosses with man features.

[@mr.s2005]

6/10 for the quality of the movie on its own. 4/10 for being a poor adaption of the actual story. The excuse for her not having a name in Rohan's history....is very stupid. Even with the reasoning that she never cared about ruling, what legitimate excuse is there that her own nation would forget her accomplishments and give them to someone else, while she in the ends, selfishly, decides to abandon her country when it took generations for it to recover...which is probably why they rewrote that part of Rohan's history, as an act of revenge for her running away from helping with the recovery. Not like I don't think the movie could have worked with her as the POV, since she could have played a small part, but they made everything big happen evolve around her...when she was a unnamed one sentence character, which Tolkien made clear was an insignificant character. Helm didn't punch Freca for proposing marriage, it was because Freca threatened him the music and voice acting was great, the writing wasn't

[@carnilino.m]

Except Hera did not accomplish anything that would be written into history books at that time. She just lead the people to Helms Deep and called for aid of Frealaf, who in the end came with an army and defeated Wulf's army.

[@equestrianrosie]

My brother wants to see this. I fear he will be sadly disappointed.

[@BenjaminAlternate]

Guess what honored praise is what princesses get all the time in historically that's just realistic

[@RunnyElephant44]

At least the art is neat to see in anime form that's it

[@3godzilla3]

While the movie wasn't perfect, I really enjoyed it. People love to trash on things that aren't the originals, and so I went into the film trying to not compare it to anything else. I also went in completely expecting some kind of "girl boss, woman power" agenda, and I was genuinely surprised with how downplayed that was, as this man said, and that's a REALLY good thing. It had drama, emotional moments, plenty of action, and good music. I'd say it falls between an 8 and 8.5 out of 10 for me. I just wish there was more depth to the childhood of Hera and Wulf to give us more reason to care for them.

[@SamGlaze]

I had a hard time with Wulf as a character - outside of him constantly reminding us that Héra had slighted him, I didn’t personally feel connected to that plot and therefore was not particularly moved by it. I felt like I could have enjoyed approximately another 30 minutes just to let the story develop a bit more

[@3godzilla3]

@SamGlaze Absolutely, I thought the same thing!! He definitely needed more screentime!

[@mr.s2005]

was more of a 6 for me, It was better than I thought it would be but still it with some cringey flaws, Never exactly thought of her has a mary sue too, though they did prop her up a little too much with her and the old shieldmaiden being the only ones coming up with plans that actually worked, while the men screwed up after not listening to her...and even have Fealaf getting ready to abandon his country instead of trying to get intel was why too far out of character.. Hera too going out of character by abandoning her county when it was going to take generations for the nation to recover, so that line about her being wild and free would be accurate. Though biggest issue I have, is them saying that she wouldn't be in any songs.....and why is that, Rohan being so sexist they would change history to protect their masculinity? Plus not including that Rohan and Gondor were being attacked at the same time also makes Rohan's leaders just look stubborn and stupid still planning to get the dvd when it comes out, its still better than ROP

[@Keram-io8hv]

I would have loved more depth to Wulf as a character because there he felt like ser Incelot I would probably give it 6-7 out of 10 but with the small addition that I enjoyed it

[@SamGlaze]

@@Keram-io8hv The sir incel plotline did bother me heavily, especially since it felt very Un-Tolkien, but then I remembered Maeglin and his plot is basically that he was an incel so he betrayed the mightiest stronghold of the Noldor to the great enemy and kind of shrugged. I did wish we got a little bit more background like I said

[@SoldierSpiderx]

Sometimes I feel like Hollywood has only seen one scene from The entire LOTR trilogy, that being Eowyn saying "I am no Man" before stabbing The Nazgul in his face.

[@hrafnagu9243]

Just a personal gripe of mine, but I really really dont like the Anime art style. And seeing a "Middle earth" adaptation, an explicitly western creation, in the style of anime just really doesn't sit well with me. Besides, they shouldn't have made a movie revolving around an unnamed character in the first place. Helm Hammerhand's story is RIGHT there!!

[@carnilino.m]

But the whole Helm's story from the book was told in the movie. Did you see it?

[@kobewan9028]

Love your videos man, would love to see a battle scene comparison video on this and lotr like you mentioned !

[@Rifky809]

Ironically, the actual goddess Hera is the goddess of marriage and fertility. So I just laughs when the WotH Hera rejects Wulf's marriage proposal.

[@ArenTainment]

I agree! Helm turned into Hera Hammerheld! Damn these subversive tactics!

[@joanpalomaresjunquera2327]

Honestly what I would have done was having Helm sucker punch Wulf’s dad then Helm has Hera marry Wulf as a way to avoid war but Wulf is you know Wulf and starts a war anyway and keeps Hera as a hostage, then we follow Helm for the most part in the war

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

"Let's sell them ur w0ke girlboss shyt coated in animé... they will buy it"...

[@DarthDevorin]

Small Conflict of the Rohirrim.

[@MarcAlcatraz]

Movie should’ve been called “the Rise of Hera”

[@deusvult7546]

I mean, let's be honest. The biggest red flag was her wearing black widow style clothing in the trailer...

[@azidal3755]

I thought something was off even from seeing the trailers, I just wasn't sure what.

[@OzymandiasWasRight]

Just saw this and not even sure what the plot was. Angry guy gathers army cause dad trauma plus she wasnt into him? Then some stuff happened i slept through and then it ended. I learned more about the plot from this review than from watching the film. Oof.

[@ebransc09]

Is the thing that leaves this movie with no real punch that they skimped on the budget for voice talent?

[@ceejay1353]

For those who don't know, nothing is wrong with a Mary Sue. Bayonetta is a Mary Sue, Ciri from the Wticher is kind of a Mary Sue. It comes down to how you write the Mary Sue. If you write one unintentionally that could be a problem.

[@Keram-io8hv]

Entire Warhammer IP is build on Mary Sues

[@andrewlim9345]

Thanks for the review. Liked you analysed the pros and cons of War of the Rohirrim. The film looks like it needed more editing. Looks like it has similar issues as Netflix's Six Triple Eight. Have you watched Skeleton Crew? What do you think about that series?

[@SuperBroG06]

Agreed, yes, sick of that trope! Why can't anything very good be made anymore 😭 P.S. pls do Xenoblade Chronicles character studies like this, i love your content and really want to see your spin on my favorite deep video game series!

[@anonanon3112]

It's sad too how people are looking at this as an example of "good animation." I guess people just haven't watched what was considered good animation in the 80's and 90's if they think this janky B roll should be considered anywhere above average.

[@sakitorihd]

i didn't know it was an original story, it should have been stay that way, in a book.

[@FistoftheUmbralStar-1.0]

Go watch Nerd of the Rings and see what he has to say about it if you're conflicted about this movie. That's all you need to know if it's good or bad.

[@tylerstrickland9679]

I wouldn't necessarily say that this movie was bad, for me anyways it was entertaining for what it was a small story in the middle earth saga, I'm still new to learning about the different lores of this world but it was nice to see this, considering the rings of power is very pourly written and acted I like this one, what could of been better in a lot of the complaints I've seen is giving another animated movie for it, but when it comes to these projects you have to take it for what it is, a small animated film with too much to go through, these are my personal thoughts and just thought I'd share

[@Cheeseit99]

DEI movies cannot promote warfare, and movie producers don't want to show it either. Star Wars HAS to be anti war..

[@Sirlance3000]

Yay the movie I was sort of looking forward to all year is yet another safe and uninspired story! Hooray! Well no point in watching it now. I mean is it really that hard to write a good story?! Hollywood please stop playing it safe and make a risk for once! Nobody wants a safe surface level uninspired dull predictable story, we have thousands of those! I want characters that get proper character development, not carboard cut outs trying to be a character, while having no room to grow as a character! Hollywood, I have no problem with female characters, I have no problem with female protagonists, heck most the characters I write are women, the main character of the story I am creating is a girl, my problem is that these characters, and especially the female ones are always depicted as perfect, or otherwise always right, they can do no wrong, but what I, and what most other people actually want are imperfect characters, characters that can be wrong, characters that struggle. I don't know what is so hard about this to understand!

[@the_great_tigorian_channel]

Well, I cant say I didn’t see this coming… call it my sixth sense or my ability to read poker faces or whatever, but from the trailers alone I knew beforehand this was likely to flop.