Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

“There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery.” The above quote as written by master storyteller JRR Tolkien and spoken by Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers sums up my feelings about this heinous series. In truth, I could consult a thesaurus for every negative descriptive English word and still not convey the depth of my hatred for what has been done to destroy the beautiful world created by Professor Tolkien. To be clear: NO matter what ANYONE says, this series contains zero Tolkien. ALL of the characters are fabrications, yes even those whose names do appear in the source text, because they bear no resemblance to the lush characters Tolkien created. The “writers” had the unmitigated gall to claim they could “write the story Tolkien never did.” Outrageous! Indeed, they have put on the screen something that Tolkien did not write because he KNEW how to craft a piece of literature, while those associated with this travesty cannot write a coherent sentence let alone a sensible plot line. Moreover, there is no doubt that the goal of Rings of Power is to subvert and destroy the timeless themes of love, faith, courage, fellowship, family, beauty, sacrifice, decency, etc. Literally everything positive has been replaced with revenge, modern social issues, hatred, stupidity, etc.. This has been done ON PURPOSE. Personally, I will never forgive Amazon for this blatant desecration of Tolkien’s Middle Earth and nothing would make me like this show. However, I comprehend that not all share my 50+ years devotion to Tolkien or belief in respecting classic literature. So perhaps my disgust could be allayed if the show runners had at least tried to present a well-written product. They haven’t. As a multi-published, best selling author myself, I know a bit about crafting a story. In this case, literally nothing is good. The dialogue is laughable. The plot essentially does not exist and has holes a mile wide. The pacing is abysmally slow and disjointed. Viewers are treated like idiots who cannot figure anything out. There isn’t a single character who is likable or has depth, in fact most are one-dimensional. I honestly cannot fathom how anyone with an IQ over 50 thinks this is a quality show. In closing, I would give 0 stars if I could, but will admit that the scenery is mostly gorgeous and artwork above average, even excellent in places. The vast majority of the costumes are hideous, but a few are well done. The only other positive is the music, which isn’t Howard Shore level but good. These positives do not, in my opinion, overrule the wooden acting and pathetic script. Heaven help us if this is what passes as quality these days. Thank God the books by JRR Tolkien will remain unsullied. My advice: Forego Rings of Power and read the novels.