The Rings of Power
Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy is a masterpiece. I view it as my generations Star Wars. Something you want to share with other people when you find out they haven’t seen it. It’s release only bolstered the legacy of Tolkien’s original masterpiece.
Much like Star Wars, when prequals and spin offs are on the way, people expect the same magic and wonder. I enjoyed The Hobbit when it released in theatres. But I knew going in, it couldn’t live up to its predecessors.
And somehow now, everyone is shocked that The Rings of Power is copping some backlash?
A few weeks ago, Amazon released Bear McCreary’s soundtrack to The Rings of Power. Talking to a friend as we listened to it, we both made the same comment. It’s a great soundtrack, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings score. And we both agreed, McCreary must have some brass balls, because who would want to step on that hallowed ground.
But, there is money to be made. Someone was going to snatch it up. Two hundred and fifty million dollars later (plus another billion for five seasons) here we are. A few episodes in, I’m still nervously excited. It certainly has potential.
I find myself repeatedly saying that. It’s the nerves. I’m so nervous because its so precious.
The good.
It is visually one of the most beautiful TV shows ever. But Jacksons LotR natural beauty has it beat. The soundtrack is great. I love the casting of Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, physically she is exactly how I imagine a young Galadriel to look. I loved the casting of Durin and the rapport he and Disa have (though the lack of her beard is a bit disconcerting). Everything based in Khazad-dûm was lovely.
I’m certainly not writing the show off at this early stage, but it’s off to a slow start.
The bad? The first thing that springs to mind is the ham-fisting.
They needed a warrior princess, they made Galadriel a warrior princess. I can get on board with that. But that wasn’t Tolkien’s Galadriel. And Lord of the Rings has always had strong women. As Galadriel was. But she never picked up a sword.
It’s funny watching Jacksons LotR now how “white-washed” it is. In the past I never noticed it because it makes sense. The Harfoots, being mixed race doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But they needed more people of colour, so they had to put them in there.
Hence why I said ham fisting.
Most people don’t care about a black elf. Or a an inexplicably diverse tight knit community. Or a new warrior princess. Myself included. The bigger problem is; it feels pretentious. Like some collage play, where everyone is up on stage so earnestly trying to impress.
Amazon is claiming the show is being review bombed. When its just devout fans feeling their baby is being hurt, real or imagined. I had this idea. If Amazon is going to complain about fans complaining, couldn’t they have written something new? What are we up to Marvel movie 30? Would it kill people to make something actually new?
Either way, I’ll still stick this one out for quite a while.