It’s a discombobulating experience, after a “Lord of the Rings” trilogy that was built, down to every frame and hobbit hair, for the big screen, to see something so comparatively minor, small-scaled and TV-sized as “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,

The War of the Rohirrim is a new animated Lord of the Rings film from director Kenji Kamiyama. It takes place nearly 200 years before The

Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubong Williams discuss their roles in Warner Bros.' The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

For a project that exists out of pure legal obligation to retain some movie rights, I was surprised the movie had some passion behind it, at least on the directorial front.

Every possible franchise callback seems jammed into this anime film, which was fast-tracked into production to prevent studio New Line Cinema from losing the rights to JRR Tolkien’s work

The War of the Rohirrim is firm proof that this story can thrive in any form, especially when the result looks this good. Director Kenji Kamiyama’s animated foray with The War of the Rohirrim is a worthy continuation of Peter Jackson’s vision.

The War of the Rohirrim does not contain significant spoiler information! The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is directed by Kenji Kamiyama and starring Brian Cox, Gaia Wise and Mirando Otto!

The film, set 183 years before the events of “The Hobbit,” is a return to Middle-earth that, despite some very earnest storytelling, never supplies much of an answer as to why, exactly, it exists.

Animated under the direction of Kenji Kamiyama, the film easily surpasses the live-action Hobbits. Set 200 years before Bilbo Baggins gained possession of The One Ring, the film tells of the warring factions of Rohan.

Kenji Kamiyama directs this animated film set 200 years before LotR and starring the voices of Gaia Wise, Brian Cox and Luke Pasqualino 3/5 stars Set 200 years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's seminal fantasy epic,