One of the most common complaints about the Middle-earth saga of J.R.R. Tolkien is that everything that’s not The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings is hard to understand. This argument is essentially correct. From The Silmarillion to The Rings of Power, to the in-development Hunt for Gollum films, the ancillary of Lord of the Rings stories can feel paradoxically overwhelming and also, oddly inessential, leading to general confusion from the casual Middle-earth fan.
In 2024, one new Lord of the Rings movie fulfilled both criteria of what makes LOTR stuff confusing. The anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim is by definition inessential. And, because it requires knowledge of obscure lore, it’s also overwhelming. And yet, despite, or because of these facts, it’s also somehow great. In terms of critical consensus, the film currently holds a 49 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, while having an 82 percent score from general audiences. And that’s because, in this case, the general audience is who this movie was for. The War of Rohirrim just hit Max and if you missed it in theaters, it’s very much worth your time. Mild spoilers ahead.
