And so it came to pass, in the 21st year after the arrival of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" — and eight years after "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," the conclusion of its prequel trilogy — that a prequel prequel was mounted upon Amazon's Prime Video in the form of a television series: "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power." And even before its substance was revealed to the populace, except in teasers and trailers and sundry con panels and promotional videos, there was much dissension in the land over the question of whether it would prove a force for good or for evil.
To judge by the vlogosphere, "force for evil" is the predominant view. Titles of videos up on YouTube include "The Rings of Power is D.O.A.," "Why Everyone Hates The Rings of Power … Already," "The Rings of Power Is Going to Suck," "How 'The Rings of Power' Should Have Been Written" and "Rings of Power is a PARODY of 'Lord of the Rings,'" all based on a smidgen of evidence.
Well, I have seen six of the first season's eight episodes, and "The Rings of Power" is neither a disaster nor a triumph, merely television of a visibly expensive, fitfully inspired sort. It looks good, has a few charismatic performances that sell the characters and is all in all watchable, if something less than compelling — predictable even in the suspenseful parts, occasionally exciting and sometimes sort of boring. Action scenes, which kept the movies lively, and do get your attention here, are relatively spread out, perhaps because they're expensive and the season is long.
