Episode two's pointless action and dialogue, despite its expensive cinematography and introduction of dwarves, may soon earn Amazon Prime Video's most expensive show a title change from THE RINGS OF POWER to THE RINGS OF BOREDOM.
Somewhere somehow, an Amazon exec thought it a great idea to not head their company's most expensive streaming show with a little dependable star power. Instead they filled the show's talent roster with people of no renown or ... talent for lack of a better word. For a show about a magical fantastical world, Amazon Prime Video's "The Rings of Power" lacks very much in anything fantastic or magical.
The newest episode -- "Adrift" -- has Galadriel adrift at sea with human refugees from a town destroyed by orcs, Elrond visiting a dwarven friend who is upset that Elrond's missed half his life, and an elf-human couple (they're a couple, let's not kid around) discovering underground invasion of nearby human towns by orcs (Or goblins? They looked more like goblins).
While watching the show, a family pointed out how unremarkable looking all the elves in the show were. Having a basic reference point with elves being extremely beautiful in most fiction and a familiarity with Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy, I could not help but agree. They're next opinion was that perhaps it was purposeful due to how unattractive and not-charming the main female lead is. Now I wouldn't call the actress playing Galadriel hideous but she's no Liv Tyler or Cate Blanchett so the point has some validity.
Unfortunately it appears that RINGS OF POWER may suffer from the same malady as HOUSE OF THE DRAGON -- lots of money poured into marketing, props, and special effects while little to no effort was put into securing the best possible actors and script.
Will both shows get better?
Hopefully.
Will I continue watching?
Probably and not because either of the two shows are remarkable but because they, despite their quality, have cultural value in mainstream culture.
Here's a youtube trailer for Amazon's THE RINGS OF POWER below if you're curious or interested:
See y'all next time on the next review!
If you'd like to see my reviews for previous episodes, here's the links below:
"The Rings of Power" - S1 E1 - TV Episode Review for "A Shade of the Past"