A few people I know have seen the first couple episodes of Rings of Power and they all said it was not entertaining...They said some of the cgi scenes are fantastic but actual character chapters are not written well, and the acting is atrocious and a couple people said the main protagonist is a mary-sue making everyone else around her look like idiots...I haven't seen any of this and probably won't for a while...Sounds like this series may be a billion dollar disaster...
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Hi Nivek... well my friend, I watched the third episode of House of the Dragon last night and was pleased that it hasn't dipped in quality yet! [hope it never does].... and also watched the first two episodes of the 'Rings of Power'.. and can report that I do not agree with your other friend's critique of the series [or at least the first two offerings anyway]... I can see what they are meaning by the lead character roles being centred on female characters [so far] .. but the main protagonist is in fact a young 'Galadriel', whom as you know was a pretty major character in the 'Hobbit and Rings world' anyway... the main difference being that they have made her a young Elf that isn't so much of the mystical woodland figure that she is portrayed in the other later adventures that are set a couple of millennia later, but rather much more of a super-warrior-elf in the vein of the Orlando Bloom-Legolas character.
There also appears to be a gender-change in lead-hobbit-character [though they have swapped from Hobbits to 'Harfoots'... a kind of gypsy cousin to the Hobbits] ... in that all the running is made by a slightly rebellious young Harfoot girl named Nori Brandyfoot.
...And yes!... Galadriel just happens to be the only one with solid insight on the flawed ... but 'generally accepted demise of Sauron' ... and is willing to go against everything to prove them wrong and gain revenge on him for killing her big-brother a couple of centuries earlier! [me thinks there could be a twist in that storyline?] ... but then Galadriel was always a 'special force' to us Tolkienites... in this she is a warrior and the mystique has yet to bloom in her character over the next couple of thousand years! ... and so she being the 'top-dog' in this series doesn't bother me at all. ... Nor does Nori being the chief Harfoot-character spoil it for me ... so far! .... And you are quite right about the quality of the show! ... The super budget shines like the sun from start to finish, as lavish as any big screen blockbuster. As for the casting and acting? ... True I saw nothing to scare Laughton, Olivier or Dame Edith... but then there was nothing really outstandingly poor about any of them either imo? ... sure i've seen the poster's that have belittled the legitimacy of casting English comedian Lenny Henry as a elder Harfoot ... but for me , that is just a false opinion because he fits his role well, and his acting is more than adequate for any role he can get. ... If not that, then i'm not sure where the bad acting tag as come from? ... because in general, no one's acting credibility stood out for me!
If I was pressed for a gripe at the start of the series, then I would be hard pressed to come up with something more than the fact [which may well change in future episodes] that the other major character that we are familiar with from the Ring and Hobbit world, Elrond is a much limper character as his younger self than I would have liked! ... but then, this may change as we go on? ... Which reminds me, ... I just realised that the 'bad acting' that your friends mentioned most likely will be referring to Owain Arthur who played the Dwarf Prince Durin [pretty poorly I thought... but not enough to spoil an epic series like this].
... Anyway my friend, i'm waffling on again, bleating my opinions as usual lol!
... when all I should say is that I enjoyed the first two episodes very much and can't wait for the third... and would urge you to set a couple of hours of quality fantasy-food-time aside and watch them for yourself, and let me know if you are still as disappointed as you seem to think you'll be mate.
... of course we are all different and you may just knock the hell out of the sow in your own review ... but i'm interested to see either way?
Cheers Buddy.