So first let's lay out my prejudice and biases first - I am in no way a LOTR fan. I was bored to tears when I was a kid when my friends kept dragging me to see the Peter Jackson films. I'm not kidding when I say this but I've fallen asleep every single time I tried to watch those movies. I actually remember thinking one Christmas when my mom bought them for me on DVD "My own mother doesn't know me at all".
I know that fans of those movies are literally religious zealots when it comes to them but there it is. Can't stand em. No disrespect. In terms of quality and scope as well as just pushing the medium of filmmaking they are an achievement. Even I can admit to that despite not being a fan.
Also, the books... Listen LOTR is just not my type of fantasy. When I was a freshman in college my English 1000 professor on the first day of class assigned reading LOTR and I thought I was going to cry. I hated every second of it. Mordor, gondor, dwarves, Galabriel, Galadriel, Orcs, Wizards, Middle Earth blah blah freaking blah. All of that stuff for me takes away from the meat and bones of a great story... the humans and the human conflict. It's distracting not to mention annoying. I'm more of a GOT, Sword of Truth, and Mistborn fantasy fan. Stories that don't get bogged down in the world-building but instead focus on characters that are believable and mirror our own world.
Okay, so all of that being said, why did I watch this? Well, to be honest, one thing pulled me in, and one thing only: Morfydd Clark. Lord of the Rings have mercy she's gorgeous. But also the fact that the rabid diehards didn't like it also caught my attention. It sort of confirmed what I think turned out to be true - the producers of this show weren't just trying to appeal to the LOTR base but were trying to achieve what GOT did... they wanted to bring in normie viewers like myself. All the nerd stuff is in there but it's dialed back a bit. Instead, they're focusing on the characters. They've grounded a story I always thought was too ridiculous and childish to be taken seriously and ya know what? I enjoyed it.
Alright, so let's get specific - pros and cons:
PRO: I think Morfydd Clark is a star. I don't think she will blow up as a direct result of this show but I do think it will be because of the opportunities it leads to. I saw some comments about her character Galadriel on social media and here as well stating that she - CON: Galadriel - is written like a bit of a Karen. Not only is that hilarious but yeah, it is a bit true. Love Morfydd but Galadriel is not exactly written well. It's tough to root for her.
PRO: This one was a massive surprise for me but Durin! The second you mention something like Dwarves my eyes immediately glaze over and my attention wanders but the character and his storyline were really a joy to watch. The conflict with his father and his relationship/brotherhood with Elrond was just surprising. Again, it was human.
PRO/CON: Sauron - I mean I think it was obvious from the jump. That being said, I enjoyed it all the same. I saw what they were going for and the parallels they were trying to make to let's say other great classic works. And let's be real, coming from a non fan... I want a relationship between Galadriel and Sauron so bad. It would just make for great TV. Galadriel falling in love with the literal thing she's spent a thousand years trying to kill?! And maybe he actually loves her too and starts to question the whole evil thing? C'mon, that would be so much fun!
CON: The Stranger - I love Daniel Weyman but the Stranger was just annoying plain and simple.
PRO/CON: Cinematography at times felt fantastic and grounded and other times felt very CW network. Specifically, the Numenor stuff... honestly that whole thing felt CW. Too pristine, too pretty, too clean - the actors themselves again looked straight off the crappiest CW hot people with problems show. I'm sure some book nerd is screaming "that's what Numenor is supposed to be!!" I don't care I didn't like it. I just didn't buy it. I didn't believe it. Here's a contrast - GOT - The Red Keep and Lannisters... I believed that was a real sort of middle ages setting.
Hollywood is a lazy industry. Always looking for the easiest sell. IP is the name of the game these days. Forget about anything resembling original or at least "fresh" storytelling - the industry will always take what millions and millions of people love and try to repurpose it. There is a lot of great fantasy out there that is less popular but imo far more interesting, complex, yet grounded than LOTR that Amazon could have gone with. Instead, they chose perhaps the most recognizable option and tried to put their own spin on it. I get why diehard fans are miffed. They're right to be. If you want to put your own spin on something... tell your own story. I liked this show and I'll prob check out a few eps whenever S2 happens but I think we can all agree that Rings of Power will never come anywhere near to the GOT effect.
By virtue of its straight geek silliness, Rings of Power will never be a cultural phenomenon... all that money spent can't change the fact that LOTR will always be niche.
I know that fans of those movies are literally religious zealots when it comes to them but there it is. Can't stand em. No disrespect. In terms of quality and scope as well as just pushing the medium of filmmaking they are an achievement. Even I can admit to that despite not being a fan.
Also, the books... Listen LOTR is just not my type of fantasy. When I was a freshman in college my English 1000 professor on the first day of class assigned reading LOTR and I thought I was going to cry. I hated every second of it. Mordor, gondor, dwarves, Galabriel, Galadriel, Orcs, Wizards, Middle Earth blah blah freaking blah. All of that stuff for me takes away from the meat and bones of a great story... the humans and the human conflict. It's distracting not to mention annoying. I'm more of a GOT, Sword of Truth, and Mistborn fantasy fan. Stories that don't get bogged down in the world-building but instead focus on characters that are believable and mirror our own world.
Okay, so all of that being said, why did I watch this? Well, to be honest, one thing pulled me in, and one thing only: Morfydd Clark. Lord of the Rings have mercy she's gorgeous. But also the fact that the rabid diehards didn't like it also caught my attention. It sort of confirmed what I think turned out to be true - the producers of this show weren't just trying to appeal to the LOTR base but were trying to achieve what GOT did... they wanted to bring in normie viewers like myself. All the nerd stuff is in there but it's dialed back a bit. Instead, they're focusing on the characters. They've grounded a story I always thought was too ridiculous and childish to be taken seriously and ya know what? I enjoyed it.
Alright, so let's get specific - pros and cons:
PRO: I think Morfydd Clark is a star. I don't think she will blow up as a direct result of this show but I do think it will be because of the opportunities it leads to. I saw some comments about her character Galadriel on social media and here as well stating that she - CON: Galadriel - is written like a bit of a Karen. Not only is that hilarious but yeah, it is a bit true. Love Morfydd but Galadriel is not exactly written well. It's tough to root for her.
PRO: This one was a massive surprise for me but Durin! The second you mention something like Dwarves my eyes immediately glaze over and my attention wanders but the character and his storyline were really a joy to watch. The conflict with his father and his relationship/brotherhood with Elrond was just surprising. Again, it was human.
PRO/CON: Sauron - I mean I think it was obvious from the jump. That being said, I enjoyed it all the same. I saw what they were going for and the parallels they were trying to make to let's say other great classic works. And let's be real, coming from a non fan... I want a relationship between Galadriel and Sauron so bad. It would just make for great TV. Galadriel falling in love with the literal thing she's spent a thousand years trying to kill?! And maybe he actually loves her too and starts to question the whole evil thing? C'mon, that would be so much fun!
CON: The Stranger - I love Daniel Weyman but the Stranger was just annoying plain and simple.
PRO/CON: Cinematography at times felt fantastic and grounded and other times felt very CW network. Specifically, the Numenor stuff... honestly that whole thing felt CW. Too pristine, too pretty, too clean - the actors themselves again looked straight off the crappiest CW hot people with problems show. I'm sure some book nerd is screaming "that's what Numenor is supposed to be!!" I don't care I didn't like it. I just didn't buy it. I didn't believe it. Here's a contrast - GOT - The Red Keep and Lannisters... I believed that was a real sort of middle ages setting.
Hollywood is a lazy industry. Always looking for the easiest sell. IP is the name of the game these days. Forget about anything resembling original or at least "fresh" storytelling - the industry will always take what millions and millions of people love and try to repurpose it. There is a lot of great fantasy out there that is less popular but imo far more interesting, complex, yet grounded than LOTR that Amazon could have gone with. Instead, they chose perhaps the most recognizable option and tried to put their own spin on it. I get why diehard fans are miffed. They're right to be. If you want to put your own spin on something... tell your own story. I liked this show and I'll prob check out a few eps whenever S2 happens but I think we can all agree that Rings of Power will never come anywhere near to the GOT effect.
By virtue of its straight geek silliness, Rings of Power will never be a cultural phenomenon... all that money spent can't change the fact that LOTR will always be niche.