Let's approach this from its good side: the production design is stunning, the VFX work sometimes great and the score quite professional, if oftentimes overwhelming.
The world building is a bit clumsy, but it is absolutely saved by the rich and detailed production design. The show has very high production value at times. As could be expected, but still - hats off to those hard working people.
That being said, the rest unfortunately feels strangely out of place. I know my Tolkien well enough to have an idea why, and it starts with the protagonist, Galadriel. She seems like a naive fan fiction version of Tolkien's great Elven Queen, and Morfydd Clark stays pretty bland in her portrayal - which is mostly because of the writing and directing.
Blandness seems to be a big problem when it comes to the characters of THE RINGS OF POWER, as I found it difficult to identify with any of them or feel a lot of empathy towards them. This in turn gives me time to focus on the worse parts of the show, which is exactly when my immersion is ruined.
Be it the questionable hair dressing of many characters (including short haired Elves or teenagers with undercuts), the clumsy dialogue or the forced diversity - it's all distracting and easily breaks the immersion.
If anything, this show demonstrates how vastly superior Tolkien's writing was and still is. Compared to the source material, the show's altered characters and events seem fake and small, thrown into a world that still invokes feelings of splendour and magnificence from Peter Jackson's far better films.
The twists - if you can call them that - are naive and predictable, the conflict fails to invoke an emotional response, the characters fail to take you on any journey whatsoever. Add in some really thoughtless plot points and borderline idiotic decisions by the writers, and you get an idea of how big of a flop this show is. And indeed, its failure is the most epic aspect of LOTR:TROP. Was that to be expected with two inexperienced showrunners with close to no credits to them? Who knows?
And so we get something where I sincerely wonder who this is for. Hardcore Tolkien fans, as well as fans of Jackson's adaptations, will probably reject this show, casual viewers will probably find it difficult to get into the lore and will be bored by the dragging pacing. And the policy of holding back reviews or even deleting everything that is below 6/10 for a period of time only adds to the awkwardness of this undertaking. As it is, this is a tremendous waste of money, and I feel bad for all those who have delivered great work for this show. At least they got paid well, I hope.
The world building is a bit clumsy, but it is absolutely saved by the rich and detailed production design. The show has very high production value at times. As could be expected, but still - hats off to those hard working people.
That being said, the rest unfortunately feels strangely out of place. I know my Tolkien well enough to have an idea why, and it starts with the protagonist, Galadriel. She seems like a naive fan fiction version of Tolkien's great Elven Queen, and Morfydd Clark stays pretty bland in her portrayal - which is mostly because of the writing and directing.
Blandness seems to be a big problem when it comes to the characters of THE RINGS OF POWER, as I found it difficult to identify with any of them or feel a lot of empathy towards them. This in turn gives me time to focus on the worse parts of the show, which is exactly when my immersion is ruined.
Be it the questionable hair dressing of many characters (including short haired Elves or teenagers with undercuts), the clumsy dialogue or the forced diversity - it's all distracting and easily breaks the immersion.
If anything, this show demonstrates how vastly superior Tolkien's writing was and still is. Compared to the source material, the show's altered characters and events seem fake and small, thrown into a world that still invokes feelings of splendour and magnificence from Peter Jackson's far better films.
The twists - if you can call them that - are naive and predictable, the conflict fails to invoke an emotional response, the characters fail to take you on any journey whatsoever. Add in some really thoughtless plot points and borderline idiotic decisions by the writers, and you get an idea of how big of a flop this show is. And indeed, its failure is the most epic aspect of LOTR:TROP. Was that to be expected with two inexperienced showrunners with close to no credits to them? Who knows?
And so we get something where I sincerely wonder who this is for. Hardcore Tolkien fans, as well as fans of Jackson's adaptations, will probably reject this show, casual viewers will probably find it difficult to get into the lore and will be bored by the dragging pacing. And the policy of holding back reviews or even deleting everything that is below 6/10 for a period of time only adds to the awkwardness of this undertaking. As it is, this is a tremendous waste of money, and I feel bad for all those who have delivered great work for this show. At least they got paid well, I hope.