Sean Asuncion

I loved it. Mind you I was born and raised into the Jackson films, I've watched them over a hundred times each and almlst know every line a character's about to say next. The appeal of the fiest trilogy to me was a general lack of hope and whimsy after the fellowship lost Gandalf at Moria and that sort of "world falling into pieces, man,elf and dwarven kind in the defensive" was the vibe I was looking for when it was it was first released that Amazon was planning on making a show about it. Naturally I was excited to my bones I get to see another piece of Lord of the Rings content, but as the trailers came in there was one thing I shouldn't have let get to me, the early reviews. Over the past months leading to the release I was part of the mob, finding anything I could to hate about the show, but unlike most of the mob, I gave the show a chance, and I was very very pleasantly surprised with it. If you just have an open mind watching the first few episodes (during this time of writing I've binged the first three that have come out) you'd slowly realize that all the hate has been unwarranted. Now I'm not a "Tolkien super fan" I've never even read any of his works past The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit and I realize this story and the rights Amazon has are from a different age of Middle Earth, but if you're expecting something to be absolutely faithful to the source material without any creative liberty, just read the books again. I mean no offense but that's just how media works, heck even the critically acclaimed Jackson films took some liberties. The whole "woke thing" people keep hating on, from my POV who's really enjoying the show feels like the interpretation of the actors themselves and is in no way detrimental to the story line. I mean come on if the skin color or costume design of characters from a fictional tv show based on a fictional work of writing makes you whine and hate on something without so much as giving it a chance, you have bigger problems in life. The show is absolutely stunning, the acting could be improved upon a little bit, with some actors really careering their serious-mc-serious stare into the distance, but none of the characters are forgettable. Admittedly it is a lot to keep track of, seeing as thousands of years of lore are thrust upon you in the few episodes, but it's a genuinely enjoyable show. There's great action, tension in some scenes, comedy in others with lore building in the forefront. Tldr; don't be sheep, try it first before you go on hating, it's not for everyone outside (and especially inside the fandom) but from thr first three episodes in, I've already been mesmerized and look forward to the rest of the episodes and seasons. Cheers