El señor de los anillos: Los anillos de poder

A pleasant surprise, the cinematography is impeccable, the characters quite well done, the plot looks like a link between the stories of the First Age, the Silmarillion and the stories of the Lord of the Rings of the Third Age, the rhythm of narration is pleasant albeit a bit slow. If the outcome of the series will be to narrate how Sauron forged the Rings of Power, it will definitely be something to watch. Until this moment, I think that in general terms, at least the first chapter delivers. I think enough to be cautiously optimistic about what the next 7 episodes might turn out to be. I must add, again that I am pleasantly surprised.

My review so far, as of watching 4 episodes.

There is some great CGI (and some not so great), and really interesting environment and creature designs! Some of the characters have some decent/average acting, but most of the actors either over-act and don't really match the feel of the characters described in the source or are not believable inhabitants of that world.

The writing is probably my biggest complaint. Strange and distracting dialogue, weird pacing, and incredibly obvious and predictable plot progression. There is a general feeling of almost complete disregard for the source material.

The best storylines surround the dwarves. And they actually look, for the most part, like the source materials and the Peter Jackson movies established that they should look. "But Michael, this is its own series! None of the races have to look like they do in the movies!" Fair! But, they should at least look like the source material's descriptions and if the show isn't trying to look like the movies, why do the Balrog, the fell beasts, eagles, Sauron, and some of the races look so similar to the movies?

A lot of Rings of Power LOOKS decent (save almost ALL the arms and armor). And, I actually love the orcs' practical effects! But, the show generally feels hollow, hastily written, and over-acted.

I loved the original trilogy. I wanted to love this show as well. However, if we take out the amazing visuals or diverse cast of new and old characters, this movie is a major misfire. The dialogue is some of the worst I have seen in recent TV shows. The show is honestly boring and I have no clue why given the deep source material to work with. Also, the "re-imaging" of characters does no justice to the author who spent such effort molding them into who they are. JRR shaped his fantasy world to tell his stories. They do not always match up to reality because this is a fantasy show for a reason. It is truly sad that one of the greatest fantasy stories is reduced to such divisive and uninspiring argumentation. Gave it a chance. Sadly, not all fantasy should match the real world.