The “Lord of the Rings” franchise holds more weight than any other in media history. Not only does it boast three expertly made award-winning films from the early 2000s, it evokes the image of a six-part novel that revolutionized the entire genre of fantasy fiction. Ever since the mainstream success of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s story, the franchise’s financial potential has been evident.

The latest attempt to capitalize on that potential has been an animated film entitled “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” by Japanese director Kenji Kamiyama. Despite obvious attempts to do so, Kamiyama fails to recapture the magic of Tolkien’s original story and does little to make his film stand out on its own.

Based on a measly two-and-a-half-page section of an appendix, “War of the Rohirrim” depicts the origins of Helm’s Deep, which would go on to be the site of an iconic battle in “The Lord of the Rings.” This story takes place a few centuries before said conflict and focuses on strong-willed Hera, who seeks freedom from the male-dominated ways of her father Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan. When her kingdom comes under attack, Hera defies expectations and proves all the men wrong with her strength and courage in battle.

If that character analysis sounds familiar to anyone, it is no surprise. Not only is it a rather standard plot with surface-level feminist themes, but it also echoes the character arc of Éowyn from “The Lord of the Rings.” Despite the fact that Éowyn was one of many supporting characters in her story, whereas Hera is the protagonist of this film, the new tale fails to iterate on the formula in any interesting ways.

So many story beats replicate events of previous tales, but none come close to the scale or quality of the original movies. It may be seen as unfair to judge this film in the shadow of its predecessors but it is only natural when the movie itself makes no attempts to emerge from said shadow.

“The War of the Rohirrim” seeks to evoke the themes and imagery that the kingdom of Rohan embodied in Peter Jackson’s films, but ends up coming across as a cheap imitation. Various elements from “The Lord of the Rings” are presented in ways that attempt to cheaply pander to fans—a mysterious creature in the waters, orcs hunting for rings at the request of their master, a few familiar names mentioned in passing—all are introduced in ways that are forced and add nothing to the film itself.

Apart from its attempted ties to a more beloved story, the movie entertains decently. The characters are animated well and the action is fairly gripping—it functions as a film but does nothing to excel. The narrative is competent but does not stand out among a sea of fantasy action films, without even considering others based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Even the animation, which is largely crisp and fluid, is hindered by the unconvincing effect caused by anime-style characters walking across backgrounds that are often photorealistic. It is clear that the animation team was talented, but this contrast creates an unfocused visual style that distracts the viewers more than it immerses them.

“War of the Rohirrim” is a film flawed in concept. Where many book-to-film adaptations (including Peter Jackson’s revered “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) receive criticism for removing crucial elements of the original text, Kamiyama’s picture has the opposite problem. The titular war depicted in the film is only described in the appendix to Tolkien’s “The Return of the King” in a very truncated history of Rohan. Helm Hammerhand is present for less than three pages and Hera is mentioned only in passing.

There is almost no textual basis for this film. Some films could use this lack of source material as an opportunity to create a story that is almost entirely new, but this one did not. It stretches the brief mention into two hours without adding anything of substance. The film provides the same amount of information that the book does. It just takes a very long time to do so without justifying that length.

Though this movie does little to blatantly offend any viewers who are not deeply picky about adaptations of Tolkien’s work, it does equally little to amaze them. The film is perfectly passable. Nothing less. Nothing more.