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Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy is probably a benchmark of what fantasy films could be and it paved the way for fantasy adventure movies and television series for years to come. It was a global phenomenon that brought the works of J.R.R. Tolkien into the mainstream and gave us so many memorable cinematic moments that will forever be etched into our minds (and memes). It is so beloved that the new Amazon Prime Video show ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ is such a risky move. 

How does one produce a prequel to the well-loved trilogy without inviting comparison?

The first two episodes of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ brings us back to Middle Earth, thousands of years before the events of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ take place. In this show, the only two familiar characters (so far) are the elves Galadriel and Elrond, much younger versions of the characters portrayed in the films by Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving. The elves have left their home to face an evil entity known as Morgoth, who has wreaked havoc upon Middle Earth and whose reach has made it to even the home of the elves. In the ensuing battle, Morgoth is defeated but his successor, a powerful sorcerer known as Sauron has become the leader of the orcs but has disappeared without a trace.

The elvish commander Galadriel seeks to find where Sauron and his orc army have disappeared to but faces opposition from the elf king Gil-Galad and his right-hand man, Elrond. The elves are in a rush to end this war that has lasted for centuries and they want to declare a time of peace.

But this show is much larger than that of just the concern of elves. There are humans and dwarves and a race called Harfoots, who I suspect might be the ancestors of the Hobbits. 

There are multiple stories unfolding simultaneously in the first two episodes of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ and the pacing of the show is actually quite good. There is a steady build-up of events that promises that the supposed “time of peace” that Gil-Galad wants to declare is a foolish mistake and that Galadriel’s obsession to find Sauron and his army should have been heeded more carefully.

If anything, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ is an expensive show: happening at multiple locations, following several different stories, each with fully realised sets and costumes and each with their own special effects needed to make everything feel like a fully-realised fantasy series. It’s massive in scale and scope. 

The trick, though, is to give us a Middle Earth that looks like what the world of Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ would have looked like and felt like a thousand years before and this is where things get muddled.

In what is familiar to us, the elves were such elegant and graceful beings. They lived for thousands of years and there was such a mystical way about them as they were presented in the movies. This texture and nuance is completely missing from the show. The first twenty minutes are steeped into the affairs of the elves and they talk and behave just like humans do, sometimes even worse. Their politics, their system, and culture – it feels so alien from the elves that we are familiar with from the film. Morfydd Clark and Robert Aramayo, who play Galadriel and Elrond, respectively, have the unenviable task of bringing to life characters that were played by Blanchett and Weaving. They have to make us believe that these versions of the characters will grow up to be the Galadriel and Elrond that we know and from these two episodes, it’s night and day.

Here, Galadriel is a warrior and proud. She’s obsessed with finding Sauron and seeking revenge. Elrond, on the other hand, is a stereotypical politician with an easy, rehearsed smile and always bargaining at every turn. Both characters are not easy to like.

With the constant reminder of Jackson’s Trilogy, it is quite difficult to get into this world that’s presented no matter how big its budget is. What it does have going for it is that the title itself leads us to suspect that the show will be about the forging of the titular “Rings of Power,” including Sauron’s ring, the one ring to rule them all and that is something I would want to see. Among the plentiful characters this show offers us, the one that I’m most attached to is the Harfoot Nori, played by Markella Kavanagh. Unlike the others of her race, she longs for adventure and curious about the world outside the safe ways of the Harfoot. Kavanagh has an innocence and a spirited way about how she plays Nori that fits so well into this genre. It’s her story I’m most eager to see unfold.

What is also interesting about this show is how it portrays the elves as some imperialist colonizers – coming to Middle Earth, setting up their own cities and kingdoms – and this has angered much of the human race. The humans were caught in a war, first with Morgoth and then the elves, and are disgruntled and prejudiced against the elves. This plays out in little moments throughout the first two episodes, which I hope they show us a lot more of in future episodes. 

This might even be explored as two characters, an elvish soldier and a human healer, may have a love story brewing. Even the way Elrond deals with the Dwarves resonates with similar dealings in our modern times. The stark differences between the races and how it is played out is when the show really begins to show its promise; that it can be more than just another high fantasy adventure series.

While I’m not happy with the way the elves are portrayed here – I still have to adjust and shift my perspective from Jackson’s film trilogy – nor am I attached to any of the many characters presented to us in the first two episodes (save Nori), I am intrigued by how good the pacing is and how quick the build-up of the narrative tension appears to be. Checking the internet, the first season only runs for eight episodes, so they have a lot of ground to cover.  The biggest challenge for this show is how to carve out its own niche that is separated from Jackson’s trilogy and be a show entirely of its own and yet still be able to connect itself to that trilogy and to ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy at the end of its run.

The potential is there. I feel that production-wise, it can capture the massive feel and tone of the movies but it is still grasping at the tone and characterization. Maybe in the next few episodes?

My Rating:

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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Amazon Prime this September 2.

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