Brief Story Line
Story was set in Middle-earth thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, where Galadriel (Morfydd Clark - Maud etc), a commander in the Elf army believed that the evil Sauron still lived despite no apparent proof for centuries. Even her old friend, the half-elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo - Behind Her Eyes TV series etc) and the King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker - The Ice Road etc) did not believe it. The king himself also ordered the elves tasked of watching over the men in the Southland to return, including Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova - Berlin Station TV series etc) who was a bit reluctant to leave the woman he loved Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi - Ben-Hur 2016 remake etc).
Through some difficult ordeal, Galadriel met a man with mysterious past named Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) and unexpectedly arrived at the kingdom of Numenor ruled by the Queen Regent Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson - The Accountant etc). She tried to convince Miriel to lend an army to the Southland where she believed the evil Sauron hid, although it proved to be challenging as the sea captain Elendil (Lloyd Owen) was not too receptive of this idea.
Meanwhile Elrond was tasked by the king to work together with the renowned smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) on building something for the kingdom. As it required the assistance from dwarves to finish it fast, Elrond had to reconnect with his old friend Prince Durin (Owain Arthur) to help them. On the other side of the Middle-earth, the Harfoots Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) discovered a lost strange man (Daniel Weyman) and decided to help him.
So what would happen to all of those people? You could see them in the first season of this series.
End of Brief Story Line
Well that was a huge challenge to put down briefly the main story and also the characters who I thought had large part in the series (at least in first season). Frankly when I started watching this, I was not too clear on the period. All I knew was it must have happened in the past. I was intrigued to watch this series because I am a big fan of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) and its prequel The Hobbit. Till now, I still dub LOTR as one of the best trilogy of movies that I really loved.
Anyway, because I like everything about the Middle-earth (I also enjoy playing the games with this setting), obviously I had to watch this series that I had really high hopes for, especially with the strong financial backing. And the high production value of the series could be clearly seen from the costumes, special effects and the ensemble cast supported by the large crew as well. Watching this series reminded me of the feeling of in awe when seeing the original LOTR.
The first episode felt more like the introduction of the characters involved, so the slow pace was understandable as I familiarize myself with them. The second episode felt more enjoyable for me as the pace started to pick up and the story began to take shape a bit. However, I could not help myself to feel that the action was a bit too scarce and the build up was not swift enough. Plus there were more characters appeared in subsequent episodes. Good thing though there were few cool fights scenes which to me was awesome and I could not wait for the epic war that was teased since the 4th episode.
Of all the 8 episodes in the first season, my most favorite one had to be the 6th which I am sure you would have guessed it. That was the one that I had been waiting for and it really did not disappoint. It was truly satisfying for me. Now the second favorite was definitely the finale which was just brilliant and amazing as so many things started to make sense. The revelation was the best and I got to say that I did not see it coming. Of course with such ending, I could not wait for the second season to come, which probably would be released sometime next year (the shooting had begun early this month).
As I said above, there were many many characters in this series which should not come as a surprise since the novels and appendices written by J. R. R. Tolkien were so comprehensive and extensive. The thing with having so many characters was we need time to be more attached with them, plus I would definitely have a bit of favoritism. The characters I like here were Galadriel, Arondir and Halgrand. I also quite like Noni the Harfoots (Harfoots are a group of Hobbits), although sometimes her story felt a bit draggy. Now Elrond and Durin's story arc was my least favorite even if I know it has a significant importance later. The cast were generally very good in portraying the characters. And the musical score was wonderful with great directing by the directors (J. A. Bayona, Wayne Che Yip and Charlotte Brändström).
Overall, this is a fantastic TV series about the Middle-earth where we could see the Eves, Dwarves, Men, Harfoots and obviously Orcs. Even though it was set so long before the events of the films I saw before, there were still strong references that I could still relate too. The great setting and that epic battle was a joy to see, but I still wish they were a bit consistent in the pacing (the 7th episode was the example as it was a downside after such an exciting 6th episode). And of course I would love to see a bit more battle/fight scenes even a small one if there is no epic fight yet. So if you are fans of all things related to Middle-earth, then most likely you would love this. I for one was quite entertained and would love to see what would unfold in second season. Oh, from what I read, the deal was to make at least 5 seasons of the series. Hence you need to be ready for many years to see the whole complete story.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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