The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The big return to Middle Earth in series form could have been more impressive, but it probably disappointed most fans. I’m one of the more satisfied viewers, because even if it doesn't reach the quality of Peter Jackson's trilogy, it's still better than any other recent fantasy show. Amazon opened their wallets and made one of the most expensive series, although you would expect that the money went on action and surprisingly there is not much of it, which is the only major criticism for me, but otherwise I had a great time and looked forward to every episode every week, which is a positive card for me. The lore of Lord of the Rings is very cool at the core and all the races, characters, cities, names, weapons, creatures fascinate me and entertain me a lot. Some plot lines were weaker. The Hobbits, we all agree on that, are the least interesting line. I enjoyed Arondir a lot (the much criticized black elf is ironically one of the best characters) and the villain Adar is excellent (though he didn't have enough space). Galadriel and Halbrand especially in Numenor were a blast, Durin and Elrond were great as well, so the characters grew on me and none of them downright annoyed me. The best episode is Udûn, an action-packed ride with orcs, I was roaring with bliss there, and delighted by the fact that it's surprisingly brutalfor a PG-13. I enjoyed the dialogue, the visuals, the production design, actors, the darker atmosphere and the lots of Easter eggs. I personally didn't have a big problem with it, and I believe it will all go dramatically better with more seasons. So more promise of action, darkness and lore. 7.5/10. (10/20/2022)

I'm not an orthodox fan of Jackson's original trilogy, but I can fully appreciate its qualities; nothing better exists within the fantasy genre (and probably won't for a long time). I haven't read the books, though. So, some might consider my opinion as the shallow ramblings of a layperson, but whatever. The first photos, behind-the-scenes info, and trailers for the most expensive series in the history of cinema didn't impress me. Something just didn't sit right. And I'm not even talking about the much-discussed casting, which I see as the least of the series' problems. However, when almost nothing significant happens across 7 episodes and the creators try to catch up in the final episode, something must have gone wrong. The acting is generally average to below average, with the portrayal of Galadriel being the biggest weakness (along with turning her into a conceited brat who deserved a few slaps). The story also doesn't offer any surprises; I'd cut out the whole subplot with the Harfoots (completely unnecessary). The widely praised audiovisuals mostly look appealing at first glance but, upon closer inspection, the excessive CGI makes this series a sterile spectacle (I didn't feel the grandeur of Jackson's LOTR at any point). And there aren’t many battles either. There are some positives (music, the depiction of the orcs, and the relationship between the Elf Elrond and the Dwarf Durin), but for such an amount of money, it's extremely lacking. For me, it's 5/10. (10/16/2022)

This is so woefully average it hurts. I would have been happy for this quite watchable average series, but for a sequel to such a world-class project as Lord of the Rings I will be uncompromising, because this should only have been handled by a director who is 100% sure of their result and who had the vision to bring the next cinematic revolution to the screen. The result is unfortunately an average fantasy tale with perfect but unfortunately rather uninteresting costumes, ordinary sets and average characters. Ignoring the trend of stuffing black elves, black dwarves and black hobbits everywhere (even though it is a rather distracting element, I don't take it as a rating knock), I still find more negatives than positives. Not much happens in eight episodes, watching only four races (humans, elves, dwarves and hobbits) is underwhelming and feels terribly limited, as if nothing else worth paying attention to is happening in Middle Earth. There is one one (?????????) action set pice, literally insulting for ten hours of material, and the rest is just filler that is often boring and fails to grab you in any way. Likewise, the rating is very strange, on the one hand they are afraid to venture into edgier and bloodier scenes, to let the blood out of a person when they slit their throat, but on the other hand they cheerfully show bones breaking against a wall, a bloody sword slash at times, and then back to the seat moments later, and the ensuing fight is as sterile as a Pixar movie without a drop of blood. What I do praise, on the other hand, is the visuals, the intensity, and the fun innovation with the orcs, because I was happy whenever they appeared on screen; it's just a shame that they get almost no space, the scenes with them are like great and we have to beg impatiently to get another one, and that's a mistake. Flat, uninteresting, impersonal, without any good action scenes and even though I didn't suffer outright, this is not the result I wanted. Shame on the creators, because they should go to hell and never make another movieup. I'm sure the extremist fans of the entire lore of Middle Earth will cheer for Sauron, but we regular viewers and lovers of the film franchise are literally suffering. (11/22/2022)

It’s watchable, but with a little of eye-rolling. Of course, even in its finest moments it is average at best (well, okay, there are some excellent scenes in the final three episodes). The biggest problems are in the concept, the characterisation, the dialogue, the non-intersecting lines (the fact that two of them don't even count is a topic in itself, not to mention that the best line is completely unnecessary), that is, aspects that, even if they improve substantially for the next series, won't be enough to lift it out of the B-movie waters. Sadly, McCreary is doing more for this than anyone else. If (and it's a big if) you can get past the degradation of "LOTR" (whether literary or cinematic), it's passable as a dozen badly written episodes of fantasy, which is criminally little. | S1: 3/5 | (11/18/2022)

The stilted plot, the unnecessary story lines and the soporific pace cannot be saved even by the fantastic sets and expensive visual effects scenes. Cut it down to a two hour movie, remove the downright moronic dialogue between Galadriel and whoever, condense the hobbit line and remove half the elves. Big disappointment, please end it quickly in the second season. (10/25/2023)