The most expensive American series ever, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’, has finally relaunched on Amazon streaming. The spin-off series, which was finalized in 2017, has been eagerly awaited by fans of Middle-earth for five years.
After all, eight years have passed since ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ and people need a new entry to continue the ‘Middle Earth dream’.
Amazon has set a high profile from the start – booking five seasons of volume with a total budget of $1 billion, the highest production costs in the history of American drama.
Yet once the episodes went online, it was the exact opposite in terms of professional and popular ratings.’ The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ has a Rotten Tomatoes freshness of 83%, but the public popcorn rating is only 38%; on MTC, the professional rating has 71 points, but the user rating hits the bottom at 2.4.
There is no doubt that ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ is not off to a good start, is it still worth watching?
A grand world view
The episode is about the prequel to the movie trilogy, which is from Tolkien’s other novel ‘The Silmarillion.
However, due to complicated copyright issues, Amazon didn’t get the rights to the adaptation, and most of the plot is original to the writers based on detailed information from the book.’ The story of The Lord of the Rings’ series is much more than those of two generations of the Baggins family, but has a grand and complete epic lineage.
According to fans, Tolkien’s Middle-earth novels have three “Years” in chronological order: Years of the Lamps, Years of the Trees, and Years of the Sun, which are composed of the first, second, third, and fourth eras.
The film version of the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and the ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy both take place at the end of the Third Age, while the story in the new series of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is focused on the Second Age.
The first episode of the series begins with the perspective of the elf Galadriel, who narrates from Years of the Trees all the way to the Second Age.
Viewers familiar with the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy should remember that she is the same Elf Queen played by Cate Blanchett.
She will also be one of the central characters of the entire series, leading us through the long history of Middle-earth until the end of the “Alliance Wars”.
In other words, the end of the new series of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, that is, the beginning of the first film version.
Galadriel is not yet the wife of the Lord of Lothlórien, but a bloodthirsty warrior who intends to avenge her brother’s death, leading a group of elves to search for Orc and Roronoa Zoro.
Although Galadriel had to return to the kingdom under the restraint of the Supreme King, and even almost entered the undead land of Valinor. but she chose to return to Middle-earth at the last moment, following her heart and eradicating the darkness.
Another clue about the elves is that Elrond, who has not yet become an elven lord, and Dwarves work together to create a mysterious object.
It is said that this mysterious object is 19 rings of power, the whole play is to talk about the casting process of the rings of power and the impact of the consequences. And Galadriel and Elrond two, will also be ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movie version in the new show the only two continued role.
The Hobbit’s ancestor, Harfoots, also has a role in the show, and the girl, Nori, has a similar setup to Frodo and is curious about the outside world.
In the second episode, he also encountered a mysterious ‘Maiar’ who fell from the sky, which simply explains that ‘Maiar’ is a character like Gandalf, the wizard.
With several other subplots laid out in the show, it’s easy to see that the new show ‘The Lord of the Rings’ wants to recreate a grand worldview, using several groups of characters in different locations to interweave the coming war in this mysterious land.
(Spoilers below, please read with caution)
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Losts the emotional core
To be realistic, the show does give a sense of the grandeur of a big factory heavy industry in terms of costumes and props, grand scenes and picture effects. So much so that when you watch it on your cell phone, computer, or even a TV set of hundreds of inches, you will not be able to appreciate the beauty of its details.
However, this belongs more to the “face” of a film and television drama, but in the “inside” level, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ new drama is difficult to convince people, whether it is the characterization, or the plot to pinpoint.
You know, the movie version of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy has become a film history classic, still moving, because it found a “small behind the great”.
From the very beginning, the movie tells a grand legend in an epic style. Among them, the proud and holy elves, the stubborn but brave dwarves, the greedy and cunning human race, all want to have control over the world. Only the Hobbit, who is free and uncontested, becomes a key link in determining the fate of Middle Earth.
Huge dramatic tension, so that ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy has a hot core, it is about the small people in front of the illusion of the dream of a fight to the death, but also about how an ordinary person can have the full meaning of courage.
This is the moving part of the film version, but also aside from the grand scenes, the epic story of the mortal undertones, it is precisely this that allows audiences around the world, regardless of borders and race, can draw endless power in this great work.
But the new series of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is obviously not convincing on this point. The episode also involves Nori, the Harfoots girl, but she is more of a supporting character, a replica of Frodo but not beyond.
Her role is more to evoke the long-ago memories of old fans than to let her set off the treacherous world of Middle-earth. The real protagonists, in fact, are the Elves, and Galadriel in particular.
But as a legendary character in her own right, Galadriel lacks the tension of dramatic contrasts that would allow you to relate to her or find empathy for her.
The most obvious is that she has been clamoring for revenge against Orc and Roronoa Zoro in two episodes, is it for her brother or for justice?
If it is the former, the emotional drama between her and her brother is pathetic, as thin as the backdrop, and how to support the subsequent so many episodes of revenge driving force?
If the latter, it seems too hovering and empty, the average viewer will not want to see a noblewoman warrior, in a fictional story to help the justice of the clichéd story.
This is why most viewers feel bored and bored after watching the first two episodes of the series. The more exquisite and refreshing visuals can’t make up for the thin characters and the hollow plot.
How far can ‘The Lord of the Rings’ go?
If we put aside these problems on the level of playwriting, the show for the viscosity of the iron fans, and whether it is qualified? The answer is, of course, no.
Galadriel with a group of a dozen people, a lonely army deep into the cold land in search of Orc and Roronoa Zoro; or Galadriel wants to meet the Supreme King, but still need to make an appointment; and she and her son-in-law Elrond when meeting, suddenly give rise to an inexplicable sense of CP.
All of these have upset long-time fans who are familiar with Tolkien’s original works – ignoring the established facts, making things up, and making Galadriel, a wise elf from “Years of the Trees”, “malicious lowering of the character’s intelligence”.
Especially the second episode, Galadriel almost drowned in the sea of the bridge, really made many fans roll their eyes, can not understand.
Of course, the complaints are more focused on the poor casting.
On the one hand, the elves obviously have to be played by white people, but the show is mixed with black elves; on the other hand, fans are also very dissatisfied with the face of Elrond and other characters.
You know, whether it is ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy in the role of the elf prince Orlando Bloom, or ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy in the role of the elf king Lee Pace, are known as the face of the role.
Speaking of which, the same problem has arisen with ‘House of the Dragon’, which has been online for some time now.
The Velaryon family’s “The Sea Snake” is played by a black actor; and the female lead, Rhaenyra, is also subject to questions and ridicule on her face. This reason even made many ‘Game of Thrones’ old fans abandon the show one after another.
The Lord of the Rings’ new series and the ‘House of the Dragon’ compared, in addition to the hard plot and the face of the problem, more does not take advantage of it is a complete lack of fishy elements of the drama.
Although there are some monster scenes in the show when Orc appears, overall, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ new show still retains Tolkien’s fairy tale undertones and classical texture.
But the advantage of ‘House of the Dragon’ is that it can keep viewers motivated to keep following the show with a lot of erotic scenes, bloody killing sequences, and incest plots that catch people off guard, given the increasingly heavy-handed nature of today’s audience.
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