Le Seigneur des anneaux : Les Anneaux de pouvoir

As a Lord of the Rings fan, I was eagerly awaiting the origin stories of Middle-earth. Of course, I have high expectations after Lord of the Rings, which is close to perfection in terms of time and fiction. Because they have a considerable budget and opportunities, that's why I gave my points by watching the first episode right away. Although it is the beginning part, I can say that I liked the first part very much. The character of Galadriel could have been more strong, but she is still successful. We will warm up to the characters better over time.

Characters: 8 Story: 10 Decor and venue: 10 Costume: 10 Music: 10.

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.

We all know liberties were taken with this series so my review is not based on faithfulness to the source material.

A lot of the marketing for this show led people to fear it would be woke. I didn't see anything like that. I wasn't rolling my eyes or cringing at any virtue signalling.

The pace is a little rough in parts but since it's the beginning of the series I almost expect a little dawdling. There's a lot going on, things to be set up and introduced etc...

The characters and the story is engaging though, the cinematography was well done, and the score seemed to fit... so I'm honestly excited to see where this series goes.

Definitely give this a shot and decide for yourself.

Rings of Powers opening credits say it is based on Lord of the Rings, a prequel of sorts.

Two ways to review Rings of Power: 1) As a stand-alone artistic endeavor. Or 2) As an attempt to bring Tolkien's vision to life on screen,

1) As a stand-alone product, the Rings of Power fails as a stand-alone show. Editing and pacing are poor; the special effects leave something to be desired; costumes and make-up not great; there is yet no discernable plot. Characters are inconsistent.

2) As an adaptation of Tolkien. Whatever else the show may be, it is not "Tolkien"; nor is it (as the opening credits claim) based on The Lord of the Rings and its appendices in any meaningful way. This point must be driven home: the writers openly insisted that their principle was always to return to the book for guidance and inspiration; credulous critics have believed them. This is simply not true.

Did the show writers even read The Lord of the Rings? If they did, they fundamentally misunderstood it: in their hands, Tolkien's moral and imaginative universe is simply gutted. The Moral touchstones of Tolkien's world are piety, gratitude, and humility. In The Rings of Power, these virtues are absent; they are acknowledged only insofar as they are repeatedly rejected.

The main problem is the writing, it's empty, souless and it doesn't seem to be improving, it hasn't yet captured the Tolkien poetic, spiritual and atmospheric nature. It's so far quite generic and cold, and that's often a problem because of the specific feeling of the fantastical world it's trying to bring light to, that inspires warmth and goodness. Another point that has been bothering me is the Actress playing Galadriel, because she's a focal point of the series and, sadly, she's having a poor performance and it's a main issue to engage the audience as she isn't being able to emote and even less show a charismatic attraction to the character, not capturing her duality of celestial being and 'human-like' flaws.