Kenji Kamiyama, director of the upcoming animated film 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,' discusses the challenges of adapting Tolkien's world. Set centuries before the main trilogy, the film explores Helm Hammerhand's defense of the Hornburg against Wulf,

The War of Rohirrim” also feels conspicuously closer to 1990s direct-to-video release than an heir to some of the grandest big-screen fantasy storytelling of the past 25 years.

The best JRR Tolkien adaptations tend to resemble long walks in miserable weather. (To be clear, this is a good thing.) But this weird yet watchable animated foray into Middle-earth history – fast-tracked so that New Line Cinema could hang onto the film rights to Tolkien’s work – feels more like ice skating on a well-tended rink.

It's a discombobulating experience, after a "Lord of the Rings" trilogy that was built for the big screen, to see something so comparatively minor as "The War of the Rohirrim."

Warner Bros. Animation’s new Lord of the Rings anime film is everything that’s disappointing about IP cash grabs.

The War of the Rohirrim is riding into theaters. But it sounds like if this movie does well, the door may become open even wider to more new The Lord of the Rings movies in the future. Of course, we already have The Hunt for Gollum on the go,