Disappointment isn’t a new thing when dealing with The Lord of the Rings franchise (the Hobbit films set the bar pretty low after all) but somehow Amazon seems poised to deliver an even bigger let down with its Rings of Power series based on the earlier works of Tolkien.
The writing is banal and sleepily delivered by most of the actors, the deep lore of Tolkien is glossed over for cheesy visual effect sequences, the cinematography feels wrong with too many close up/shaky cam moments and the high FPS digital look does not lend itself well to the epic fantasy aesthetic (something hard to ignore when comparing it to the gorgeous new season of GoT). The casting choices are ODD (why is the actor who played Sean Bean’s younger self from GoT playing Elrond in this, all I can see is Boromir, and Galadriel’s actress looks more like a younger Eowyn than a ringer for Cate Blanchett who possessed a more otherworldly quality befitting an elf of near perilous beauty). I could go on but I’ll just end on the last glaring issue I had with these first two eps- the costume design/stylistic choices with the various races has been so butchered here it doesn’t feel like I’m even watching Lord of the Rings but more like Netflix’s The Witcher (like season 1 Nilfgardian armor level bad), but then they seem to draw on some of the architectural styles from the Jackson films so it’s a weird mismatch.
And yeah I’ve seen a lot of pushback against criticizing this show for it’s rebranding of middle earth to include more diversity/ I’m aware it’s coming up against a lot of attacks from right wingers as a result but that does not give it a free pass to be so painfully mediocre/forgettable.
I understand our current cultural climate demands a certain amount of tweaking w/ older franchises to make them palatable to modern viewers, but this should always be attempted in a way that respects and honors the source material (this kind of rebranding after all was recently done so wonderfully with Netflix’s The Sandman as well as Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune). It’s not that difficult to pull off really but they seem to have prioritized modern rebranding here over storytelling.
After all look I was a gay kid, in high school, in the early 2000s! I found solace hiding from assholes in the library with my copy of LOTR and The Silmarillion but I didn’t need to identify with a gay hobbit elf or dwarf character to escape into the magic of Tolkien’s world because there are so many themes within his works that bring us together no matter our background/race/or creed. But hey if that’s all that matters to some people then I’m glad they’re enjoying the show for what it is, personally while I like seeing myself represented in media I also like what I’m watching to be good! 😝
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