The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: TV Review

There's no denying there is the weight of expectation on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon's biggest streaming gamble.

After the near US$1 billion investment in the series and its rights, and the success of its predecessors, the show's got more weight on its shoulders than perhaps the launch of a series should really have.

"Nothing is evil in the beginning" a voiceover tells us as the lights rise once again on the world of Tolkien and the epic story begins again. As scenes of children playing turn darker due to the kids' competitiveness and jealousies, it becomes obvious what The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is doing - it's about corruption and how that gets under peoples' skin when least expected.

And yet, despite the tendrils of evil extending out, the series flirts with a kind of danger for some of its established characters which proves narratively perilous. 

The lead of the series - at least as far as episode 1 is concerned - is Morfydd Clark's Galadriel, whose desire to seek out every Orc and follow the mysterious mark of Sauron after it's wreaked havoc in the world seems foolhardy. Not just because despite the insistence of her fellow Elves to abandon the quest proves to be fruitless, but also because the Lord of the Rings' trilogy makes it very clear both Galadriel and Sauron are very much in tact in the later films. 

What this means is it robs the series of some of its narrative urgency, and certainly based on the first two episodes, the constant placing of her in peril can take you out of the action because of what you know. You may get to see Valinor, vengeance desired against Morgoth and elements of the Silmarillion, but if you don't know your lore, is it worth it?

That's not to say Clark doesn't seize her moment. Her Galadriel burns with a fire, a desire for the truth to be heard and with a voice against disinformation that seems massively contemporary with current 21st century themes. And Clark makes for a compelling lead early on, even if the story doesn't quite keep pace with her.

But the scale of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is evident from the start.

Before the titles have even run, there's been a snow troll attack, a sighting of Sauron, and plenty of scenery to make you gasp at the scope of the show. It's epic for sure, but it's also saddled with mountains of exposition and po-faced portentous dialogue that feels unnatural and yet weirdly familiar for the lore.

Things lighten after the credits, with the introduction of the more human elements of the show - the Harfoots, chiefly Markella Kavenagh's Nori and her friends. Nori is the dreamer, the one who believes there's more outside of her world - the Frodo for the series perhaps. 

And then even more characters are introduced, as the show begins to set out its stall and arrange the pieces - but the issue here is there are a few too many of them as the writers seem to be desperate to make you care for the side players, given what you know about the others who will be safe. 

Episode 2 widens the scale even further, introducing more - and it's around halfway through the second episode that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power starts to feel a little like it's faltering to anyone outside of its fandom.

There may be mixes of horror and comedy throughout, but an uneven tone begins to unfurl which curiously enough leaves you wanting more and yet has you worrying about what could come next. The pieces are set in place, but the thrust and emotional heft for such pieces to feel essential isn't quite there yet. 

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has potential, but despite some impressive scenery, there's a feeling that it's in no real rush to get where it's going. 

Whether that will be enough of a drawcard for non-fantasy fans is debatable; however, fans of the original franchise and those looking for endless backstory amid high production values they've come to expect from Middle Earth will find more than enough to keep them from being bored of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is streaming on Prime Video from September 2.