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The Rings Of Power Season 1 (2022) Series Review

So this is a show made by Amazon (who has acquired the rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise), telling the tale of Galadriel and a couple of other major characters, before the timeline of the original films.

I could sum it up as "bargain store Lord of the Rings". Don't get me wrong, the actors seem to be trying their best here, and the CGI is quite good. But it just DOESN'T come close to the quality and scope of the original Lord of the Rings films by Peter Jackson.

The actors are OK and serviceable, but nowhere near the majestic and iconic actors such as Viggo Mortensen or Cate Blanchett.

There are also the limitations of a mini-series, having to pack things in 1 hour episodes.

The scenario itself is nothing to write home about.

My biggest criticism is the style. It is definitely a more colorful middle earth, less dark fantasy than the original films, but that goes in line with a show made by Amazon for the modern crowd.

Finally, they've of course added the diversity element to Middle Earth, with Black elves, dwarves, and hobbits. I ignored this as I don't let it affect my judgment, but it did feel uncalled for and stupid. I might also add that the Elves themselves are stylistically less impressive than the elves of the original films. Galadriel should have had more platinum hair, but this is a pet peeve. And whilst I like the main actress, I feel that Cate Blanchett was so much more impressive.

My conclusion? It's a run of the mill Amazon show that will please your "Lord of the Rings" itch. But it's obviously nowhere near the craftmanship and love of the original films, which created such a quality gritty environment that seemed pulled straight out of the books and left such an impact on our memories.

I believe that Amazon could have done much better if they had released a trilogy of films rather than make this a TV show. They shot themselves in the foot with the TV show format. Obviously there's a profit element to this, but Lord of the Rings is much more impactful as a movie than making season after season of episodes which will have lots of filler.

It's not an absolute monstrosity, but I wish Amazon kept their hands off such an important franchise. Similar to what Disney did with SW.

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