--- title: "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim" critics_score: 52 critics_reviews: 25 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 52 from 25 reviews: 7 positive, 7 mixed, 11 negative. Most critics find The War of the Rohirrim a competent but unnecessary return to Middle-earth, and the reviews lean negative. Where there is praise, it clusters on the animation and the battle scenes, with several admiring the textured backgrounds and the scale of the fighting, and on the decision to build the story around Héra, a heroine in the mould of Éowyn. Even the sceptics tend to grant that the anime approach gives Tolkien’s world a look it has not had before. The reservations are about the script. Critics in the middle and at the bottom call the plot predictable, the characters thin and the callbacks to the Jackson trilogy so frequent that the film struggles to stand on its own; several suspect it exists mainly to keep the rights warm. The spread is wide, from Radio Times, which finds it inventive and propulsive, to The Times, which dismisses it as too long and rudimentary. Polygon adds that it repeats the trilogy’s racial coding of its villains. ## Radio Times — Jayne Nelson Rating 4 out of 5 stars. The critic highlights the seamless animation, inventive direction, and propulsive storytelling in this prequel epic. It singles out Brian Cox's commanding performance as Helm for particular praise while noting some design clashes. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-1xqsul/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim/) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The film is an interesting but jarring anime take on a Tolkien appendix story that sometimes feels like a footnote. It is rescued by muscular action set-pieces and thoughtful themes of female strength and leadership. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim/) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic highlights the visually striking animation and self-contained adventure, praising the focus on a powerful heroine's journey and its fresh perspective within the Tolkien universe. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Frank Scheck Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic finds the plotting predictable and dialogue melodramatic but praises the sumptuous animation as a stunning return to Middle-earth that improves on prior animated adaptations. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-1236075681/) ## Time Out — Dan Jolin Rating 3 out of 5 stars. 26 November 2024. The review sees the anime-style film as a mostly welcome return to Middle-earth that feels nostalgic yet novel. It praises the appealing lead character Hèra and its self-contained story while noting over-reliance on callbacks to earlier films. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-2024) ## The AV Club — Matt Schimkowitz Rating C+. 12 December 2024. The critic sees it as an entertaining but slight and inconsequential adventure that follows well-trodden paths, with rich animation undermined by rote mythmaking. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review) ## The Telegraph — Chief Film Critic Rating 3/5. 12 December 2024. The film is a weird yet watchable high-gloss anime prequel that feels more like a rip-off than a true spin-off, though it is more engaging than the Hobbit films. It plucks a tale from the appendices with liberties and tonal clashes but eventually settles into something watchable. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## The New York Times — Maya Phillips Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 2024. The critic calls it a hot-and-cold anime adaptation that serves mostly as an excuse to revisit Middle-earth for fans. She notes it succeeds in recreating the fantasy world in a new format but finds parts predictable with familiar tropes. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/movies/lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Zachary Lee Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 2024. The critic views the film as an unnecessary corporate exercise to retain rights, competently made but uninspired and rushed. He praises occasional animated splendor and the focus on heroine Héra but criticizes undeveloped characters and inconsistent dynamism outside action scenes. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The review describes the film as a mediocre stopgap that adds feminist energy via its protagonist but delivers a lacklustre action-adventure. It praises the earnest lead performance while criticizing the limited expressiveness of the hand-drawn animation and overall familiarity. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/5199800.article) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 December 2024. The critic finds the film an overly familiar animated adventure that replays signature Lord of the Rings moments through a teen heroine's story. It praises some visually arresting direction and Tolkienesque sequences but criticizes jerky animation, an eroticized heroine design, and mismatched voice acting. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/lord-rings-war-rohirrim-epic-anime-replay-signature-lord-rings-moments) ## Total Film — Josh Slater-Williams Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The film is an uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien. It fails to fully capture the magic or depth of the source despite its animated battles. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/lord-of-the-rings-movies/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## Financial Times — Jonathan Romney Rating ★★☆☆☆. 12 December 2024. The film is a lumbering anime derivative with only tenuous narrative ties to the main Lord of the Rings cycle, driven by executive producer Peter Jackson’s name. Backgrounds have impressive textured video-game sweep with a Celtic-Kurosawa flavour, but the overall saga lacks dynamism. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/fb965807-befb-44cb-8009-920b532b269b) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic calls the film a dull and cheap-looking anime prequel, arguing that combining Tolkien appendices with a Studio Ghibli homage fails in execution despite the concept. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-anime-1235073849/) ## The Guardian — Radheyan Simonpillai Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 10 December 2024. The critic finds the film a redundant and joyless spin-off that plunders Tolkien’s appendices without artistic justification or imagination. The animation offers some tactile appeal in its anime style but remains constrained, solemn and lacking personality or inventive fantasy elements. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/dec/10/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-rohirrim-review) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic describes it as a tiresome deep-cut anime prequel aimed at die-hard fans, not epic enough for broader appeal. He praises the anime style, direction by Kamiyama, and positioning of Héra as a strong female hero in the vein of Éowyn. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-1236243179/) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 10 December 2024. The critic calls the film pointless, too long and substandard slop, a Tolkien-branded bore that is a slog with rudimentary animation, ropey vocal performances and dull action. It feels like shameless franchise extension from the appendices with little to recommend it. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-movie-ckhnzqwqb) ## Polygon — Susana Polo Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic highlights how the film successfully revives the epic scope, visuals, and human drama of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings while centering a strong female lead, but faults it for repeating the trilogy's problematic racial coding of antagonists. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/492608/war-of-the-rohirrim-movie-review-peter-jackson/) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic calls it a valiant if familiar addition to the LOTR canon that feels adult and engaging, with handsome production values and fervent conviction that will satisfy true fans despite splitting its audience. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-a-valiant-anime-addition-to-the-lotr-canon-20241209/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The critic finds the film fairly gripping and compelling in its visual landscape created through motion capture, models and hand-drawn animation, though it does not hit emotionally on the scale of the live-action films. They praise the decision to center the story on a strong female character and note a stirring score that nods to Howard Shore. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/12/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-anime-movie-1236197887/) ## Collider — Aidan Kelley Rating 6/10. 9 December 2024. The critic praises the film's beautiful animation and action sequences but finds the story slow, overly expository, and populated by underdeveloped characters, resulting in an average franchise entry. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 3/5. 9 December 2024. The film is the best recent attempt to expand the LOTR universe but cannot quite stand on its own. The critic singles out the gorgeous animation and art direction for praise while noting the story feels derivative and fails to recapture the original trilogy's magic. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## /Film — Jeremy Mathai Rating 6/10. 9 December 2024. The critic finds it a frustrating mix of great visuals and a disappointing script, praising the stunning 2D animation and anime-style action while noting the inessential prequel feels stuck between extremes with a weak script. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1730142/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2024. The review calls the film an underwhelming production with hit-and-miss animation (mostly miss) and largely generic performances, though not a complete washout. It singles out the rushed-looking animation quality and shoehorned references to the original trilogy as major flaws that make it feel like a straight-to-video effort. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-the-rohirrim-review/) ## Film Stories — James Harvey Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 2024. The critic views the film as a derivative, flashy legal exercise with paper-thin characters and plot points copied from the Jackson trilogy, existing mainly to fulfill studio obligations rather than for artistic merit. It offers occasional diverting sound and colour but lacks novelty or deeper purpose. [Read the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-review-development-obligations-met/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-war-of-the-rohirrim.md