Hi! This will be my first post in this community but I definetely plan on making more in the future and being active in it in general as movies and tv shows are something I'm passionate about.
I wanted to share my opinions on the first two episodes of Amazon's "Rings of power", Tolkien-inspired, series before the third one comes out this week.
As I understand it, the vision behind the show is to create something that is just loosely based on some of Tolkien's writing and that doesn't necessarily offer continuity with Peter Jackson's works but is, instead, detached from them.
However Jackson's first trilogy is something that has a very special place in my heart and its cultural impact is undeniable.
It'd be impossible for me not to make the comparison, even more so when the new series goes out of its way to recreate situations that are more or less duplicates of ones taken from its predecessor.
In short I'll be tackling this from the perspective of someone fond of the original trilogy (and of movies, shows and entertainment in general) but only vaguely familiar with the events of the First and Second Age as conceived by Tolkien.
The prologue
Early on in the first episode we get a voice-over narration of the main events that led to the defeat of Morgoth.
Among other things, it features a sequence where the eagles and the fell beasts are clawing at each others and is one of the moments I appreciated the most. I'd love to see more scenes that match the dark and epic tone of this one.
Ever since the flying mounts of the Nazguls were introduced in the second movie I've been in awe of them and it's nice here to see them get a revenge of sorts when one of the winged beasts downs an eagle.
Another scene that I appreciated was the one featuring Sauron gathering an army of orcs.
As a boy, as soon as I saw the monsters and the forces of evil on display in the prologue for the fellowship without any preconceived notion of what the movie was going to be I instinctively knew it was something I was interested in and even though many years have passed this couple of scenes conjured a similar feeling.
The rest of the prologue didn't feel as interesting though and it was over all too soon.
Jackson's prologue feels longer and does a much better job at showcasing the distinct features of the various forces engaging in battle.
Here the voice-over narration feels extremely straightforward and generic at times and doesn't seem to do as good at job in setting the stage.
Amazon's prologue is the only time where some meaningful action is on display whereas in the original movies as we slowly get introduced to tamer characters and situations we are reminded every once in a while of the evil at work in Mordor and of the stakes for the characters.
In this new series we don't get nearly as much of that and the result is a slower-paced and less engaging story.
The elvish storyline
Much of the screentime, so far, has been devoted to the elves and more specifically to Galadriel.
She's an elf born in Valinor, before Morgoth fell the two trees, and is on a quest to find Sauron and avenge the death of her brother.
She's very driven but also very rash and impulsive.
While this combination makes for a compelling character it doesn't always help in making her likeable.
Being an immortal elf, she's been fighting and exploring for what very well could be centuries and she's making an important breakthrough in her mission at the time the story picks up.
While exploring a mountain range at the very northernmost edge of Middle Earth she finds a fortress that she suspects may have been used in the past by Sauron.
Peril awaits Galadrield and her company in the form of a troll.
In Jackson's trilogy elves are perceptive, entuned with nature, glowing, angelic, ethereal.
In combat they're always shown to be agile and competent.
Amazon's elves have as much combat prowress as sacks of potatoes in the fight against the troll.
Only Galadriel is able to do something and take it down after somehow being flung into the air by one of his comrades and engaging in a bit of a coreography with the monster.
To be fair, Jackson's movies featured some over-the-top fight scenes as well from time to time.
Overall though, the skirmish with the troll in Moria is hands down more engaging than this new one.
After the fight, the remaining elves plead with Galadriel a second time and ask her to abandon the mission and go back to the elven city of Lindon.
Once Galadriel gets there we're introduced to a few more characters, the first one being Elrond.
He is one of the very few people Galadriel doesn't just scowl and squint her eyes at in disgust.
He isn't as much of a warrior as Galadriel and he engages in poetry and politics instead.
Another important character is the High King Gil-galad.
He thanks Galadriel and her company for their efforts by granting them the right to go back to the sanctuary of Valinor to live in heavenly bliss.
He seems to dismiss the threat of Sauron, of which Galadriel brings news, but in a later scene he explains to Elrond that he sent her away because he foresees that her very effort to fight the enemy might make things worse.
I took this, of course, as a very ominous sign of things to come.
There's much imagery of boats and it is on a boat that Galadriel travels, headed to Valinor.
Eventually she has a change of heart and,unable to give up her quest to avenge her brother, jumps into the sea.
What follows was a series of scenes I didn't find particularly interesting and I would categorize as "fluff" but in short, sea monsters and hypotermia are no concern for Galadriel(any danger affecting her proves to be always inconsequential) and she ultimately finds herself on a floating raft in the middle of the sea along with a mysterious stranger she slowly seems to build trust with.
On the matter of the story not being interesting enough, it's worth noting that scenes with Galadriel and Elrond seem inherently less engaging knowing that they will more likely (unless the story will take a MAJOR departure from Tolkien's writings) survive any possible danger.
As Galadriel's storyline unfolds we also get to see what happens to Elrond.
He is appointed by the king to help the fabled elven smith, Celebrimbor, build a great forge.
The potential scope of such an artifact in a series named "The rings of power" set in the Second Age does not elude me but it's not clear to me why the king would ask specifically to Elrond to assist in the task. The whole thing seems a bit convoluted.
He does however prove resourceful as a politician and a diplomat, overall I enjoyed him more as a character than Galadriel.
He is way more wise, collected and willing to compromise.
He decides to ask for the help of the dwarves of Khazad-dûm as they are very gifted smiths and builders.
In the original trilogy this kingdom of the dwarves is in ruin but here it's in its prime and it looks stunning.
At first the dwarves are reluctant to help and only when Elrond challenges the prince Durin to a contest of rock-breaking they hear the elf out.
According to the rules of the competition only if he wins he will be granted a meeting with the prince but if he loses he will be granted to right to access their kingdom again.
The whole thing is pointless "fluff" because in the end Elrond lets Durin win but he somehow gets to talk with the prince anyway.
It is, however, good fluff that grants these dwarves a bit of screentime and even though they feel a bit like caricatures I still got a good idea of what they're all about.
The costumes, the architecture, the mannerisms and even the music.. everything feels distinctly dwarven.
By contrast, most elves seem like cardboard cutouts and if it weren't for the pointed ears it'd be difficult to tell them apart from regular men even though they're featured more often than the dwarves.
In the meeting with the prince, Elrond tries to mend fences with him although it wasn't particularly clear to me what their relationship was to begin with.
The storyline with the little people
With an overview of a map of Middle Earth we're introduced to another area of the world altogether, the wilderlands of Rhovanion.
While it isn't a particularly subtle or creative solution from a narrative point of view it does a good job of pinpointing exactly where the action takes place.
This new region is much less civilized than other ones we see and it's inhabited by the harfoots.
For all intents and purposes these should be regarded as hobbits, or rather and ancestral and more primitive version of hobbits.
They are of course small in stature and don't particularly enjoy shoes.
They seems to be nomadic groups, continuously fleeing from bigger creatures and living off of the land by foraging it and sometimes relying on eating snails..
They're mostly just concerned with keeping to themselves and staying out of trouble.
They enjoy their carts to the point of including them in their idioms and sayings, which was a detail I found funny.
The focus of the attention here seems to be Eleanor Brandyfoot, a young hobbit that doesn't have the same sense of self-preservation typical of her kin.
She witnesses the coming of a mysterious figure which she finds inside the crater caused by a meteorite.
This entity seems to be Gandalf-like and it's likely to be a Maia, a spirit from another plane of existence altogether which has taken up a physical form to carry out the will of Eru Ilúvatar (the almighty, all-knowing god of Tolkien's lore).
The passing of the meteorite was also witnessed by Gil-galad, who in this occasion also notices a leaf from a tree falling and turning black.
"Gandalf" can harness a mysterious force that will make the trees shake and the sky go dark for a moment and even kill small animals such as fireflies.
Additionally, as noted by Eleanor, the fire of the meteorite isn't hot to the touch.
This is potentially tied to a line of Galadriel relating to evil forces limiting the effect of fire.
Time will tell if all these clues tie together somehow or they're red herrings.
"Gandalf" doesn't speak a language Eleanor can comprehend but in a couple of different ways he gets the point across that he is looking for a specific place.
This storyline feels a bit sluggish overall and the whimsical, childlike nature of the hobbits in general doesn't really work as well for me if it's not balanced by a parallel storyline which is more epic and grand in scope.
I suspect things will proceed at a glacial pace for a while here as the Gandalf figure has only managed to grasp the concept of clothing and sustenance(but at what cost!) over the course of an episode.
The storyline with men
Finally we get to explore the "southlands", a more rural region where men have set up small villages.
Because the ancestors of these men had fallen under the influence of Morgoth and Sauron in the past, the area is still being watched over by patrols of elves.
One of these elves is our conduit for this storyline.
I am thorn because we know virtually nothing after two episodes about the characters in this storyline but at the same time it's likely it'll be the one where some action will first take place.
The summary of what happens is that grass is dying and cattle is turning sick and as Arondir, an elf, investigates more closely he finds out that orcs are building tunnels in the area.
There's a bit more to it than that but for the most part it felt very generic.
General thoughts and parting words
It must be mentioned that the thing looks great. Images are crisp and the views are stunning.
There's so many sweeping vistas of beautiful places.
On the other hand the score doesn't seem to be there. The original movies had memorable themes for each specific area of Middle Earth and situation but in the case of this series the only piece of music that made an impression with me was the one associated with the dwarves.
There's a few moving parts and set pieces that have been put in place over the course of these first two episodes but the overall pacing is off and the tone is not nearly as epic as I would have wished for an installment of this franchise.
The elephant in the room is, of course, the record-breaking budget that Amazon allocated for this series and while it is reflected in the visual department the writing and the overall vision behind the project (which should ultimately be what matters) seems lackluster.
The exposition is often very straightforward. The dialogue is not particularly fun or engaging.
The acting is a bit hit or miss. Eleanor Brandyfoot looks very cute, Galadriel intimidating.. and I definetely want to see more out of the actors playing Elrond and Gil-galad, which should definetely be major players in this story.
Some of the secondary characters feel very weak, however, at times.
The example that comes immediately to mind being the elf in Galadriel's company asking to put and end to a fruitless quest that might very well put many lives at risk. He does so showing no emotion or urgency whatsoever.
I really want to like this series and there's elements that I enjoy but the cynical in me thinks that Amazon might just be trying to piggyback off of an intellectual property with an established following without backing it up with a clear creative vision and a story to tell.
I look forward to being proven wrong.
I plan on posting recaps for the episodes in batches of two, for the sake of symmetry.
I'd very much like to know what this community has to say and what worked or didn't work for different people.
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