3 ms·

> I haven't encountered anything that has made me think this was a different "universe," but the general "feel" of the show is vastly different from Tolkien's w

> I haven't encountered anything that has made me think this was a different "universe," but the general "feel" of the show is vastly different from Tolkien's writing. I don't 100% agree on your take that Tolkein's stories were outright chauvanistic, but I do agree that the tone of the show is different to the books and the movies to its detriment. Rings of Power does not feel like an Epic in the genre sense, like Beowulf, which was a genre and style that Tolkein knew very well. The show feels far too...casual, the dialogue too sitcom-y at times (the dwarf scenes are brutal), and the world too clean and empty. When there are "epic" scenes, they end up feeling more like Disney or power rangers stuff (akin to Legolas riding the shield down the steps, I must admit). While the effects are, at times, fairly incredible,I also think the writing has been an obvious weakness. The show is just kind of floating along in permanent exposition land. Only when a certain "dark land" is finally created does it actually start to have any stakes at all, but that is 5/6s of the way through the season already. By focusing on 5 distinct storylines for most of the show they keep everything in the shallows.

bernawil 4y ago
This is it. The writing is just awful in every sense. I mean, the story begins with Galadriel not wanting to leave Middle Earth. At that point I though: "okay already stranding off canon but let's keep an open mind. So she's going to return to Valinor, have a chat with the Elven higher ups, (maybe even the Valar!) and go back to Middle Earth to continue her mission with renewd support. They're really going to show off with those billion dollar sets of the blessed realm!". But nope, the writers really thought that having her jump overboard the ship into the open sea, just swiming, was a believable thing to write. You can't write Tolkien elves like that. At this point in the story Galadriel is like 3000 years old yet her dialog is that of an inexperienced teenager when she has already seen everything (or knows someone who has) there is to see in the whole world. Then there is the tone. The harfoot sections are the most unwatchable with an almost Dinsey vibe. The Numenoreas acting feels like the cringey dialog right before they start singing in a musical.

bernawil 4y ago

This is it. The writing is just awful in every sense. I mean, the story begins with Galadriel not wanting to leave Middle Earth. At that point I though: "okay already stranding off canon but let's keep an open mind. So she's going to return to Valinor, have a chat with the Elven higher ups, (maybe even the Valar!) and go back to Middle Earth to continue her mission with renewd support. They're really going to show off with those billion dollar sets of the blessed realm!". But nope, the writers really thought that having her jump overboard the ship into the open sea, just swiming, was a believable thing to write. You can't write Tolkien elves like that. At this point in the story Galadriel is like 3000 years old yet her dialog is that of an inexperienced teenager when she has already seen everything (or knows someone who has) there is to see in the whole world. Then there is the tone. The harfoot sections are the most unwatchable with an almost Dinsey vibe. The Numenoreas acting feels like the cringey dialog right before they start singing in a musical.