It has already been eight years since the last movie in The Hobbit series was released in theaters. Even though the series received mixed reviews, it was nevertheless an exciting look back at the past before Frodo and his Fellowship for fans of the Middle-earth and The Lord of the Rings universe. Fans were once again excited to explore J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe when Amazon Studios said that they would be producing a show based on the Second Age history of Middle-earth.
When it comes to quality fantasy writers, Tolkien is easily among the pioneers of the genre. By building on folklore and making use of his language skills, Tolkien created a rich universe that served as a major influence on modern high fantasy. Tolkien drew out much of the history of Middle-earth and divided it into different ages. And most of us mostly know about the incidents of the Third Age because it is when Frodo and his friends began their journey to destroy the One Ring. The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age, it’s the age when rings of power were forged, including the One Ring.
The Rings Of Power Episode 1 Review
The poor reaction that The Hobbit trilogy received led many Lord of the Rings fans to have doubts about the series. However, you can be assured that this series is more likely to resemble Peter Jackson’s work than anything else. The first episode of the series begins with backstory, which could be mistaken for exposition but actually feels like an epic history of the Middle-Earth setting, complete with claustrophobic battle footage and breathtaking and terrifying visuals. Since a lot of fans may be unfamiliar with this story—many of them haven’t even read the Silmarillion—the first episode of the series focuses mostly on introducing you to the background and atmosphere of this new world.
As we move throughout the map of this world, Middle-Earth feels like a truly diverse place once again. It’s bold, charming, royal, and rural all at once. This franchise has a history of telling stories that depend heavily on their environments, and the show here seems to understand that. This is highlighted by the skillful application of both real-world and computer-generated imagery (CGI) techniques to create environments that feel both rich and personal. We may never have the same emotion as when we watched the fellowship travel the New Zealand hills, but we certainly appreciate that The Rings of Power is making an effort.
The Rising Danger
This show creates a nicely tense atmosphere, trying to follow the climb to power that big bad Sauron makes, which is the past that the story is seemingly planning to take. Currently, the evil is hiding in the shadows and in the form of a sword of evil. But it feels like we are heading to something truly catastrophic. However, since we already know that Sauron will return, this tension is considerably decreased, making the villain’s back-and-forth over whether or not he is the source of danger less compelling.
However, even the episode’s final scenes, which feature the elven warriors’ genuinely breath-taking boat journey and some young hobbits’ exciting danger when they discover a man on a meteor, are filled with mystery and fear. As the show is now only building the groundwork, the few fights we do see aren’t anything really noteworthy at the time, and they do contain a few strange instances of splashing on camera. However, they are executed mostly well, like in the episode’s opening fight with a mountain troll.
Some Positives And Negatives
Instead of focusing on a single main character or their journey, this episode has the feel of a chess game, with various different pieces contributing to the overall story. The episode does have one thing going for it: a lot of female-centric sub-plots, which is welcome after the boy’s club of the previous two trilogies. All of Middle Earth’s inhabitants—humans, elves, hobbits, and dwarves—are brought back by The Ring of Power, usually with one or two characters who serve as a collective representation of the race.
The most interesting character is definitely Galadriel, the warrior elf, who is determined to track down and confront Sauron because he killed her brother. From the minute they first appear on screen, it is clear that the hobbits are still charming and weird. Sadly, out of everyone in this series, humans are the ones who feel the weakest. Their characters don’t yet stand out, the tone is often sour, and the acting can sometimes be stiff. In one of the scenes, one human child talks to another about his father leaving him when he was small, and the line feels so forced to me that it’s almost cringe-inducing. The performances of the show overall haven’t shown anything out of the world yet, but yes, there’s still time.
Also Read: The Rings Of Power Episode 1 Recap: The Introduction Of Something Great
