Here's a quick review from someone who is brown skinned and has read most of Tolkien's legendarily.
# I was somewhat biased against the idea of black elves before the show started and will admit that in actuality, it felt like a non issue as the show went on.
# The visuals and production values are amazing. One of the best in any TV show I have ever seen. Music, is surprisingly not memorable at all.
# the dialogs are cringe inducing. They have tried too hard to write in prose and utterly failed. You will have characters talking to each other in similies and metaphors which make no sense.
# The plot so far feels very slow and hamfisted. And at the same time, it seems to lurch randomly here and there, hoping to find some way forward. Too many Hollywood cliche decision making, lack of logic in the characters
# Harfoots are both endearing and boring at the same time. Would have been nice to cut their screentime to half as nothing happens in their story parts at all other than setting the fact that these are simple, good natured people.
# This wasn't Tolkien. This was some generic fantasy. Thats the only way to digest this work, if you have read Tolkien. It is fine to make fill in the gaps in his writing (Or appendices in this case) with your own invention. Its another to overwrite what he wrote with unhinged ideas
# One of the things which I hated in the LOTR movies is here as well - Bollywood elf physics.
# Dwarves again are Irish and exist mainly for comedic relief. Would have loved to see at least this show to give them some gravitas. They might as well have wandered from the sets of the Hobbits movies. Elves look rather old and just human. Nothing like immortal, ethereal beings they are supposed to be. Would have preferred younger actors for the role.
# Female dwarf beards? That was such a stupid controversy anyway. Even in the original writing, I read it as a funny throwaway line from JRR. I am happy that the showrunners didn't go with beards. That would have been extremely stupid to look at.
# The main character of Slay Queen is very unlikable. She is dour, humourless, everyone is ready to heap praise on her yet we only see how terrible of a leader she is. Not a fan of Galadriel. Elrond is better but the stilted dialogs and a complete lack of screen presence from the actor kills his character as well. Nori, the Harfoot, is the only one I liked so far. She is Hobbit, through and through.
# If I has to give it a rating, it would be a solid 6/10. a mediocre rating for a mediocre show. Not a terrible show by any means but not that good either. For reference, I would give Wheels of Time 5/10 - so they both are pretty close by in quality.
# Will I continue to watch it? Likely. Though, if the quality doesn't improves, I expect I will wander off to shinier things by episode 5.
This is the mostly thoughtfully written review I've seen in a while, thanks.
I fight against the purists all of the time, and creators should be able to make whatever they want, that said, it stink when they just make something 'generic' where it's 'themed' as the source material but really isn't.
$500M in production but can't just hire some writers and people to make it at least 'true to the spirit' of the material.
I mean, they could set LOTR in Compton/Hollywood Hills if they wanted to and it might still work (!) but when it's 'generic' it's really sad.
House of Dragons is a solid 8/10 for me so far. So thats where I am getting my fantasy fix from right now. Nothing in scifi right now. Was very intrigued by Raised by Wolves - but it went full mystery box and got cancelled.
# I was somewhat biased against the idea of black elves before the show started and will admit that in actuality, it felt like a non issue as the show went on.
# The visuals and production values are amazing. One of the best in any TV show I have ever seen. Music, is surprisingly not memorable at all.
# the dialogs are cringe inducing. They have tried too hard to write in prose and utterly failed. You will have characters talking to each other in similies and metaphors which make no sense.
# The plot so far feels very slow and hamfisted. And at the same time, it seems to lurch randomly here and there, hoping to find some way forward. Too many Hollywood cliche decision making, lack of logic in the characters
# Harfoots are both endearing and boring at the same time. Would have been nice to cut their screentime to half as nothing happens in their story parts at all other than setting the fact that these are simple, good natured people.
# This wasn't Tolkien. This was some generic fantasy. Thats the only way to digest this work, if you have read Tolkien. It is fine to make fill in the gaps in his writing (Or appendices in this case) with your own invention. Its another to overwrite what he wrote with unhinged ideas
# One of the things which I hated in the LOTR movies is here as well - Bollywood elf physics.
# Dwarves again are Irish and exist mainly for comedic relief. Would have loved to see at least this show to give them some gravitas. They might as well have wandered from the sets of the Hobbits movies. Elves look rather old and just human. Nothing like immortal, ethereal beings they are supposed to be. Would have preferred younger actors for the role.
# Female dwarf beards? That was such a stupid controversy anyway. Even in the original writing, I read it as a funny throwaway line from JRR. I am happy that the showrunners didn't go with beards. That would have been extremely stupid to look at.
# The main character of Slay Queen is very unlikable. She is dour, humourless, everyone is ready to heap praise on her yet we only see how terrible of a leader she is. Not a fan of Galadriel. Elrond is better but the stilted dialogs and a complete lack of screen presence from the actor kills his character as well. Nori, the Harfoot, is the only one I liked so far. She is Hobbit, through and through.
# If I has to give it a rating, it would be a solid 6/10. a mediocre rating for a mediocre show. Not a terrible show by any means but not that good either. For reference, I would give Wheels of Time 5/10 - so they both are pretty close by in quality.
# Will I continue to watch it? Likely. Though, if the quality doesn't improves, I expect I will wander off to shinier things by episode 5.