So, the first reviews of "The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Prime" are out. They fall into four general categories:
1. GLORIOUS reviews by "preview audiences" who, literally, use variations of the same script ("A cinematic experience that redefines television, the beginning is a little slow because there is a lot of world building, Amazon spent one billion dollars on this show and you see all the money on screen). These audiences had both flight and hotel paid by Amazon so to see the show in a theatre. Some of them, in all fairness, disclosed this.
The two best takeaways were from a Catholic woman who said "The best thing that I can say is how after watching the first two episodes I felt calm. (??) Afterwards, I saw a church nearby and I went there to pray for the soul of Tolkien (??!??)
...And from a couple who said "Tolkien fans will be happy to know that the show has a lot of easter eggs for them!" (?!?!?!?)
2. GLORIOUS reviews by outlets who have undisclosed commercial ties with Amazon (like all the outlets under the Condé Nast "umbrella", Vanity Fair in primis). These reviews elaborate a bit more from the basic cheat sheet we have seen.
3. GLORIOUS reviews from woke media: Variety, Rolling Stone... You know them. Same cheat sheet.
4. ...And then reviews that torn the show to pieces. These reviews are the only ones that explore in detail why the show is a disaster. Still, there are some surprises.
For months Entertainment Weekly shilled TRoP to high orbit, had exclusives, preview teasers, interviews, the whole enchilada. People were betting their sons that EW was going to speak about the show like "Kubrick Resurrected". Instead they came out guns blazing with a brutal review that started with
"Amazon's prequel is kind of a catastrophe" and then proceeded to dismantle everything. It was since the Red Wedding in GoT that the streaming arena didn't see a similar level of betrayal.
https://ew.com/tv/tv-reviews/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-amazon/ The Washington Post,
owned by Bezos , said "You know? Meh... Beautiful, banal boredom".
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/31/lord-rings-tv-show-review/ Grace Randolph! If you don't know her, let's say that she often borders on shilling. A lot of people can't stand her person but this is beyond the point. Anyway, the best takeaway from her review is that Galadriel alone sinks the show by being "Both a Karen and a Mary Sue". Ouch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ALhrwdr8xg&ab_channel=BeyondTheTrailer Of course the Daily Mail opened fire with all guns, too, but this was expected. * out of ***** however...
"The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power: No turkey, however bloated and stupid, could ever be big enough to convey the mesmerising awfulness of Amazon's billion dollar Tolkien epic" https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11164965/CHRISTOPHER-STEVENS-reviews-Lord-Rings-Rings-Power.html The best one, IMHO, remains Nerdrotic's take and his opinion about the shills (spoiler: not hate, but pity and compassion). I'll link the video.
I'm waiting for the premiere. A few hours to go. Let's say that I already have a Hitler Parody in mind as my review...
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