Tolkien Review

J.R.R. Tolkien is known for creating fantastical worlds that have enthralled millions and his life has been given the biopic treatment. Sadly the worlds he created were more interesting than the life behind them.

Tolkien follows the famous author (Nicolas Hoult/Harry Gilby) during his school days, his time at Oxford University, and his service in the First World War. Particular attention is paid to his friendships with a group of artistically minded students and his relationship with his future wife, Edith (Mimi Keene/Lily Collins).

Tolkien was made without the support of the family estate and they made a point that they didn’t endorse the film. Nor did the filmmakers have access to the rights to Lord of the Rings or Hobbit. Yet, it is a film that wants to use Tolkien fandom and their knowledge to draw in audiences.

Tolkien makes clear allusions to the author’s famous work. The film started by showing Tolkien’s childhood in rural Sutton Caulford and being forced to move to the industrial city of Birmingham – paralleling The Shire and Isengard. The film focused on the mythology that influenced Tolkien i.e. English legends, German folklore, and the Viking Sagas. The war scenes where Tolkien and a young private (Craig Roberts) go and search for one of Tolkien’s friend was basically Sam and Frodo in Mordor. A moment where Tolkien and the soldier were in a crater and Tolkien was on the edge of giving up made me think of the scene in Return of the King where Sam carried Frodo.

Tolkien was a scholarly man, he was a professor of philology at Oxford which influenced his work. He was fascinated with language and knew Old-English and Latin from a young age. This was a subject matter that most audiences wouldn’t be interested in and is it incredibly difficult to put on screen. The film was focused mostly on Tolkien’s education and his friends who talk about how their art will change the world. One scene in the film was when one of Tolkien’s professors (Derek Jacobi) talks about the origins of the word ‘oak’. Exciting stuff.

The people making the film did not know what they were trying to convey. There was the theme of friendship, how it influenced him and his work. But it was also a romance and wanted to show Tolkien’s time at war. Facts were told instead of shown like Tolkien’s Catholicism and his guardian disapproving of his relationship with Edith because she wasn’t Catholic. They were hints of a possible love triangle between Tolkien, Edith, and Christopher Wiseman (Tom Glynn-Carney) but it goes nowhere.

The film was at its most inventive during the war sequences. The imaginary was apocalyptic with the mud, dead trees, and poison gas. It got pretty hardcore for a 12A rated film when the British trenches were attacked by flamethrowers. This was the point where fantasy and reality blurred because Tolkien saw dragons, knights, and dark lords on the battlefield as a part of his fever dream. The director, Dome Karukoski, shows he has talent when he was allowed to be more creative. A scene where Tolkien and Edith go backstage of the opera looked like characters were having fun as they dressed up and performed.

The war aspect should have been the focus of the film. Tolkien’s war experience was an influence on his novels and because of the horrors he saw he escapes into a world of fantasy. There would have been more dramatic weight and a narrative throughline. General audiences would have found a war narrative easier to connect with rather than about people talking about mythology.

Tolkien is sadly a film that fails to impress Tolkien-enthusiasts or general audiences. It was a dull experience whose works and related adaptations are a lot more interesting.