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Jeff Bezos may have enough money to buy a $165 million mansion and fly himself to space, but even he may be put out in the cold if The Rings of Power is a flop. Okay, so he won't be starving. But if the Lord of the Rings prequel series fails to land an audience, Amazon Studios could be in jeopardy. After all, the show was a billion-dollar investment...
Yes, billion with a "B".
While some fans have been angry about the show's cast for ages and have worried about its overall quality, it's only now that their feelings are being confirmed. Many critics absolutely loathe Rings Of Power and have warned that its first two episodes (now available on Amazon Prime) spell disaster for the most expensive TV show ever made...
The Tone Of The Rings Of Power Is A Mess
"Turkey is not the word. No turkey, however bloated and stupid, could ever be big enough to convey the mesmerizing awfulness of Amazon's billion-dollar Tolkien epic."
This is how Daily Mail film critic Christopher Stevens begins his blistering takedown of Rings Of Power.
But he's not just being mean for the sake of being mean. He actually has a few points to make. Most notable among them is his criticism of the tone.
"Magnificent visuals are meaningless if nobody knows who the audience is meant to be. And it's impossible to guess whether The Rings Of Power is meant for children, for hardcore fans or for general viewers – because it fails them all," Christopher wrote.
Christopher went on to describe two fight scenes. One felt as though it was out of Disney's Star Wars. It was "bloodless" and "highly stylized" as if out of a cartoon. While the other is more akin to a fight found in HBO's House of The Dragon.
"They stab [an orc], spear it, run it through, hang it, and finally saw through its neck with a knife," Christopher wrote.
If the show can't figure out its tone, it won't figure out its audience, and it will lose it altogether.
The Rings Of Power Is A Bad Prequel
Darren Franich at Entertainment Weekly straight-up called The Rings Of Power "a catastrophe". While he had many criticisms, most of his had to do with the fact that it just doesn't stand up as a worthy prequel to Peter Jackson's original Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
"There are ways to do a prequel, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power does them all wrong. It takes six or seven things everyone remembers from the famous movie trilogy, adds a water tank, makes nobody fun, teases mysteries that aren't mysteries, and sends the best character on a pointless detour."
He went on to note structural similarities between The Fellowship Of The Ring and the first episode. And these similarities just exposed how "lame" this new incarnation is.
The Rings Of Power Characters Aren't Complicated
Stephen Kelly at The BBC was notably kinder than critics at Entertainment Weekly and The Daily Mail. This is because he was absolutely blown away by the visual effects and the sets that felt "lived in".
However, he then went on to discuss the negatives of the archetypal nature of the characters. While this has always been true of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien in comparison to that of George R.R. Martin, it seems tired and worrisome here.
Put simply, Stephen isn't sure that any of these new characters are "complex".
"Its characters have not yet revealed themselves as complex, while it's too early to tell if it will rebottle the catharsis of Tolkien's work or Peter Jackson's movies."
He then addressed the expectations put on the series to be successful.
"There are reports that The Rings of Power will determine the future of Amazon's streaming strategy. Whether it will be the hit that Amazon Prime needs it to be – considering the amount of money that it costs – remains to be seen. Based on the first two episodes, the signs are promising – but maybe promising is not enough when expectations are this high."
The Rings Of Power Doesn't Take Enough Risks
Judy Berman at Time seems to think that the show's humungous budget seemed to hinder its success.
"Despite the inventiveness that the creators have had to deploy to populate Tolkien’s world with fresh, non-canonical characters, the whole thing has the vibe of terrified executives carrying an exceedingly expensive vase across a slippery floor."
Much of this may be boiled down to the fact that those holding the purse strings wanted to try giving audiences something they know they liked versus doing something new. And if the blockbuster sequels of today have proven anything, its audiences don't want too much nostalgia.
The Rings Of Power Is Nostalgia-Bait
Clint Worthington at Roger Ebert.com essentially gave the 'Member-Berry' argument. Like many projects based on existing IP nowadays, The Rings Of Power goes for nostalgia over anything more inventive.
"It’s a series that wants dearly to set itself apart as a fresh take on the material, right down to setting itself an entire age before the adventures of Frodo Baggins and his Fellowship. But it also does everything it can to stir our nostalgia for the Jackson films, from costume to music to overall design, which can occasionally make it like a store-brand version of the same. And yet, for all the “Game of Thrones”-lite feel, its lush production design and the promise of five seasons to tell its story makes me think there’s potential in this adventure—even if we can’t see it yet."