The long-awaited spin-off series Lord of the Rings, the rings of power, does not disappoint. The series surprises with its narrative and visual quality, according to the first reviews published in the press since Wednesday. Broadcast since this Friday on Prime Video, the series has received unanimous reviews. Quite a feat when you know the prestige enjoyed by Peter Jackson’s trilogy.
power rings is set against the backdrop of the “Second Age”, a fictional historical period of the universe invented by Tolkien and about which he has given relatively few details. The series takes place 4,000 years before the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. We find in the first season very rejuvenated versions of Galadriel and Elrond (Morfydd Clark and Robert Aramayo). Five ten-hour seasons are planned.
“Visually stunning”
Only two episodes (out of eight) were shown to the press. But for Release, these “suggest a spectacular and successful season”. The same story in the columns of telerama: “Visually stunning, romantic and entertaining at the same time, the most expensive series in history perfectly fulfills its mission as a family blockbuster.”
For numerama, the rings of power is “one of the most beautiful series ever produced”: “It is a series that manages to give us moments of pause to appreciate what we are seeing or a dialogue, like a painting. We marvel at a flight of fireflies, one is impressed when the doors of Valinor open in a burst of resplendent light, one is enthralled by a simple ceremony.”
the HuffPost he also claims to have “taken the eyes off the series”: “The two hours pass in a flash, between dazzles, tensions, enchantments, shivers of pleasure and sometimes fear.” emotion shared by FranceInfo: “The series gives us the same emotion as the first films in the saga, we are completely disoriented and immersed in this fascinating universe.”
“A pot-bellied plot”
On the other hand, the site brings a snag to the whole: “We are sorry that the first episode is a bit long to begin with, with a lot of information to store in a very short time. […] The viewer navigates between different places, flying over the map of Middle-earth and discovering in turn the numerous characters that will be part of the power rings. A heaviness quickly forgotten during the second episode.
The Figaro he is also more measured and cites “some mistakes”. “The pilot does not allow you to grasp the themes and seems like a thrombinoscope without a head”, “some action scenes break the rhythm unnecessarily. More to startle than to advance a paunchy plot”, laments the newspaper, for whom the series “seems to preach a explosively childish naivete”. First also remains mixed:
“What a shame? So much better? Where’s the con? Truly an episodic movie” used by so many showrunners to praise the quality of their new series will have been so true. Watching both episodes of this first season feels like having finally seen the first twenty minutes of a three-hour blockbuster.”
Across the Atlantic, Variety sees it as a “spunky” series, which “fits well into the cinematic universe of Peter Jackson’s films”. In Great Britain, The Guardian play the comparison with dragon house, started 2 weeks ago on HBO. For the British newspaper the series the rings of power it’s so “amazing” dragon house it is seen next to “amateur”.
Source: BFM TV
