Over a hundred years before the events of The Lord of The Rings, in the kingdom of Rohan, Hera (Gaia Wise), the free-spirited daughter of King Helm Hammerhead (Brian Cox), is unwilling to be married to a lord’s son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino). However, when Wulf’s father is killed by Helm, he leaves promising revenge. Years later, he exacts this by planning to invade Rohan with his army of Dunlendings. Now Hera must fight to protect not only her kingdom, but her independence.

Director Kenji Kamiyama stages the battle sequences well enough, particularly a crucial fight involving Helm as well as the final confrontation between Hera and Wulf. However, the plot and characterisations leave much to be desired, coming across as overly derivative in comparison to the original trilogy, and even the Hobbit prequels.

Hera in particular feels like a two-dimensional ‘strong female’ character, with her narrative arc making little sense as her personality remains just as headstrong as she was in the beginning. Whilst the battles are effectively handled, their small scale leads to them paling in comparison to their live action counterparts, giving the whole production an unusual air of cheapness.

This underwhelming sensation is not helped by the overall performances, which, Cox as Helm aside, are lacking. Wise in particular gives a one-note performance as Hera, failing to convey the character’s strength and defiance as well as her charisma.

The weakest aspect, however, is the script’s constant reliance on ties to the original trilogy in order to engage viewers. These range from a scene showing orcs looking for special rings to explicit appearances in the conclusion of two important characters. These moments smack of insecurity, as if the film would be unable to stand on its own merits without needing to remind audiences of its superior live-action predecessors.

As a result, War of the Rohirrim impresses neither as a stand-alone narrative nor as a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, both in stylistic execution and in storytelling. Whilst the decision to make an anime film set in Middle-Earth with a strong female protagonist sounds interesting on paper, the finished product leaves much to be desired.

In cinemas nationwide now