Better than expected but still not great, the first episode of Rings of Power struggles with pacing and over-saturated character development.
Imagine that you took Black Panther and decided that Wakanda should be populated with people of all races and appearances. That’s sort of the idea that Jeff Bezos’ Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power has when it takes J.R.R. Tolkien’s effort to mythologize western European fantasy into a cohesive world. No longer is it European, it’s all races… except for Asians. There are surprisingly few Asians. So this is more like an effort to have all the different fantasy races be portrayed by all different shades of skin. Accents stay true to the original source material. Given that this is an artistic and philosophical decision that may stray from the original author’s intent for Middle Earth, let’s just set it aside for the purposes of this spoiler-free review. For some it’s an utter deal breaker. For others, it’s a great achievement. I’ll let you decide what you think… I’m going to table it for now.
What I won’t table is that this show is long. No, it’s not longer than some Stranger Things episodes, but it’s longer in that you become acutely aware that this story is taking a while. I think that’s because the writers decided the show needed massive amounts of character development — an entire feature-length amount of character development. If you’ve been desperate for a show willing to do an hour of character conversations, this is it. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong, but I can tell you if there’s no huge payoff, it’s not going to go over well.
For the most part, the first episode is far more beautiful and well-made than I had expected. Vistas and CGI efforts are mostly spectacular. That’s not to say it is always, and there lies the problem. Whereas She-Hulk is really bad CGI on a regular basis, Rings of Power is mostly very good — but when it goes poorly, those images and those clips will live forever online. There are brief times when this looks less like Lord of the Rings and more like Monty Python. That also extends to the wardrobe, which is often excellent and sometimes larping-level bad.
My god this is a gorgeous show #RingsOfPower pic.twitter.com/LPNKeJgpia
— 🌸 (@kiryusavemepls) September 2, 2022
If you have a high-end television that outputs very good HDR, there are plenty of times the episode is a feast for your eyes. There are lots of dark blacks combined with burning flames, many opportunities for your home cinema to show off glistening beams of light flickering through an elven city.
Ultimately, however, a show must be more than what we have discussed thus far. It must have something that inspires the viewer to continue watching. And in that aspect, there is much lacking. Our main protagonists all seem to be women, which is fine, but there is again that overpowered female hero trope that has come out of Hollywood entertainment as of late. Frodo was not at all overpowered, and in his weakness we connected with a flawed character who was attempting to overcome his shortcomings. The same is true for many Lord of the Rings characters. Yet in Rings of Power, far too often, the female protagonist feels as if she has very few flaws to the detriment of the story. It is difficult to relate to a hero who is fearless, relentless, and unstoppable at every turn. Why have an army when a single woman starts off the series slaying a monster that was destroying soldier after soldier. It’s one thing for this to occur out of great effort and risk… but it destroys the tension when the heroine is able to slay such a beast with ease and no fear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dna44kaSNk
By the end of the first episode, I’m not sure that I want to venture forth anymore. There’s plenty to like in this attempt at Middle Earth, and I certainly admit it’s better than I had expected. But it’s also struggling mightily with its pacing and may have needed rewrites at an earlier stage to balance out dialogue and action. As is, this is scene after scene of attempted beauty combined with lots and lots of dialogue. And unfortunately, there’s just not the magic in this dialogue that would lift this whole thing up to the needed level. The pacing is off.
Oh, and could we also stop dropping homeless people from the sky? You’ll get it when you see it.
Review Score: 4.8 (Decent)
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