Amazon is holding reviews for The Rings Of Power following the premiere after reports of review bombing. As the fantasy and sci-fi genres expand and offer new takes on long-established source material, modern audiences have grown increasingly divided, with longtime followers of a franchise often criticizing any deviation from its source material. The latest on-screen adaptation to face a public reckoning is Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Silmarillion. Set thousands of years prior to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films, The Rings of Power presents audiences with a very different version of Middle-earth.
The first two episodes of The Rings of Power released last night after a slew of positive early critic reviews, and the tide quickly changed in terms of online ratings. Though episodes 1 and 2 set up an intriguing start for the exciting new high fantasy series, reviews following the premiere quickly became mixed. Praise has generally gone to the performances, cinematography, and production of the show, while criticisms have mostly pointed to a slow start and a lack of grounded storytelling in the early episodes. However, the Rotten Tomatoes audience score of the series goes far beyond the moderately mixed showing, with a shocking 37%. Due to the swift plummet, reports of review bombing and online trolling for the series quickly arose.
According to THR, Amazon has taken action in a unique move and is now holding premiere reviews for 72 hours in order to weed out the trolling and make sure that all reviews sport some credibility. While unusual, the streaming service's decision makes sense since some early online chatter has sought to reduce the series to surface-level casting decisions, deriding its diversity despite The Rings of Power's setting in a fantastical world based on a fictional novel. Disparity between high critic ratings and dismal audience scores is often a mark of review bombing, which lends some credence to the rumor that the series has been subject to the increasingly common cultural phenomenon.
Though potentially controversial, Amazon's decision is a response to an unfortunately familiar occurrence that sometimes seeks to punish films or television properties for diversity or female empowerment reasons. For example, the MCU and Star Wars' recent installments have seen their share of review bombing. Some criticisms of the series that escaped the recent review suspension have centered on Galadriel's story in the first two episodes of The Rings of Power. While audiences became familiar with a certain version of the royal elf in previous Lord of the Rings films, the Amazon series is set thousands of years before those movies, meaning that young Galadriel has a lot of growing up to do throughout the Second Age before becoming the ethereal being fans remember. However, some viewers are clearly attached to the older version of the character and have made their thoughts known online.
Despite the tumultuous start for the new Lord of the Rings series, Amazon will release the review suspension in a couple of days, and audience takes on the premiere will become more clear. The rumors of review bombing have some ground, seeing as The Rings of Power has faced backlash ever since the very first trailer due to complaints about the show's diversity. However, with showrunners firmly denying that the show is promoting a politically 'woke' message, and Tolkein experts on board to create the most faithful adaptation possible of the source material, it's likely that the series will be redeemed in the eyes of understandably protective fans as season 1 progresses.
Source: THR