Hope has yet to Abandon these lands, is something that becomes very poignant once you realize that the people behind this movie actively admitted to fast tracking this "anime movie" just so they could keep the rights, Amazing.
See here is the thing about that alright, the Amazing Spider-Man was made to keep the rights to an IP, and I mean, shocker! But when the same amazing spider Man was brought into the hands of someone more capable, i.e. Marvel, it actually was pretty good, showing that the movies were sub par not because of the Ideas behind them, but because of the execution.
I believe the same is the case with this story as well.
I do not think that going into the history of middle Earth and looking at one particular incident from a different lens is in itself a bad idea, especially if it does do a (in my opinion) a good job of explaining why this would not be in Tolkien's Legendarium, because from the perspective of this story Hera choose to not have her name kept in the history books and asked her cousin to take her place on the throne.
However, I do not think the vast majority of people who like Tolkien are going to let go of the fact that this was almost certainly created retro-actively to justify this stories existence, this certainly would have been different if it was Tolkien himself doing it, but it is not, so anyone else deciding that the story worth telling is separate from the lore that previously existed is going to have a high bar to cross.
After all people attach a lot of emotional Value to these stories, respecting their emotional attachment is tantamount for anyone who hopes this audience will keep watching the stuff they are making, and Warner Bros wants that because that is what makes them money.
But the creative process comes strictly from a place of wanting to do new things, and so it would seem in most cases the want to earn money is in opposition to creativity... or is it?
You see I do not think anyone would have really disliked this film if it was just on its own, because, truth be told, it is a really good story, but then not many people would have cared much about it either(so the studio thinks), I mean, this being Helm Hammer hand's story, Tolkien's Eagles, all of these undeniably elevate the story.
I really could not shake the feeling that this was an otherwise good movie that got some of that sweet sweet studio meddling.
There was also another feeling but we will get to that.
You see, this movie was already being made, it was only "fast-tracked" in order to meet the rights Deadline.
And I have thought About what this story would look like if it were not only not Fast-tracked, but also not Lord of the Rings, I mean, you can have giant Eagles, no copyright on that, and like if there is, it belongs to WB, Helm can have a different name, the only big story connection was Orcs asking why rings? and that doesn't serve the story at all, the Beast that is killed by Helm, can just be the Beast, other than that I don't really see the point...
Oh right Saruman, and Gandalf, yes yes yes yes.
You see what I mean right, the connections are flimsy at best.
That said I do understand that it is a very real thing that people often do not go to watch a story if it is not connected to something they already knew.
Now let us get to the other feeling, many people would sum this up as, why wasn't Helm the main character?
An argument I do not exactly agree with since Helm being seen as a Legend is the point of the story, and for Helm to be seen as a Legend you need an external perspective, like for example, the scene where he is just frozen defending Helm's Deep won't be possible if he was the main character.
And scenes like this really help build his character.
So what is wrong with the film?
It doesn't seem confident enough, look Middle Earth shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War were two completely out of left field games that didn't really "respect" the lore of Tolkien, in fact they were quite contradictory to it, guess what, they are beloved games.
These are adaptations, it is okay and expected for them to differ from the source material... If, they provide a good reason to do so, and that is something this movie does not do, through out the movie I could not shake the feeling that those behind it were not confident enough and somewhat afraid that their attempt at somewhat rewriting middle earth history will be met with disdain.
And I went to the film's Wikipedia page and here is what I found.
And I quote:
Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews were hired to write the initial screenplay.[15] During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Boyens asked her daughter Phoebe Gittins and Gittins's writing partner Arty Papageorgiou to re-write the script. Boyens referred to them as the "next generation" and believed it was important for new, young voices to join the franchise. The pair, who were working on another project at the time, were hesitant to join the film because of the reverence for the source material and previous films held by themselves and other fans. They were convinced to join based on the other people working on the project, including many who worked on Jackson's films.
And before Anyone gets any Ideas, the film wasn't written by children, Phoebe Gittins was already a screen writing working on a different project, although it seems her presence on this one is a serious case of Hollywood Nepotism, but that is a whole other can of worms.
But essentially, the original Hired writer didn't feel confident in her own ability so got her Daughter involved who was also not confident because she was afraid that the reverence people hold to the source material will mean she may not be able to do a good enough Job.
So, this is what happened, in fact this is what happened with The Rings of Power as well, I mean everyone will tell you hate the fact that it is different from Tolkien's lore, but then also compare it to Middle Earth Shadow of War to criticize the writing of Celebrimbor in the story, not knowing that that is also a wild deviation? And in fact this version is far closer to what Tolkien wrote(except for the actor.)\
You know it is almost like most people do not have a degree in media literacy and therefore do not know what it is that makes a good story and there is no shortage of other people online waiting to tell them that the reason they feel this way is because Story different, Story not Helm Hammer hand main character, Story got woman... I mean, that one is really getting very common innit?
So what makes a good story? Picking a lane mostly, and executing it well, if you are gonna be respectful, be respectful, if you are gonna go ham with the lore, go ham with the lore, it's the wishy washy middle ground that turns people off, because then, the audience watching because it is something they heard about wont be happy as it doesn't stand on its own, and the one here for lord of the rings wont be happy that it isn't more accurate.
Half of your audience will be dissatisfied all the time, and that is not good cinema, because when it comes to that, the worst thing you can be, is mediocre.
All that said, do keep in mind, I'm not a film student, I am just a Mathematics PhD Student who is also a serious Cinephile, so take my opinion with a grain of Salt.
Also, is it just me, or did WB not market this movie at all compared to how much it gave to the Rings of Power, I mean I only found out cause I went to comic con, and that is the true crime here, a movie meant for a newer audience that only the truly dedicated will see. Once again goes to show a lack of Confidence.
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