«Fantasy of the highest level»: the second season of the series «The Lord of the Rings» received first reviews and 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

Journalists from specialized publications shared their first reviews of the second season of The Lord of the Rings» ahead of the official release on Prime Video — and they are mostly positive.

The second season of the series is currently on Rotten Tomatoes has 80% of the critics. For comparison, the first one got 83% from journalists and 38% from viewers (so we’re likely to see a radically different audience assessment after the official release). Below are some quotes from the reviews:

• Bradley Russell, Games Radar: «Like Tolkien’s work, the Prime Video series is intricate, dense, and sometimes contradictory. Yet somehow, against this backdrop, there is a sense of a job well done».
• Helen O’Hara, Empire Magazine: «Luxuriously made, endlessly beautiful to watch, and substantial enough to get you excited. This is fantasy of the highest order».
• Ron Gillard, Discussing Film: «The second season of The Lord of the Rings is far from perfect due to the lack of storylines, but in general, the show is able to capture the essence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s original themes».
• Jeremy Matej, Slashfilm: «Although the series doesn’t reach the heights of Tolkien’s original novels or Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, it’s like the next best thing: a confident and exciting return to Middle Earth».
• Daniel Baptista, The Movie Podcast: «The second season of The Lord of the Rings is a FANTASTIC return to Middle Earth that continues to redefine television. It’s a deeper and darker story filled with the best visuals ever seen on television».

The second season of «The Lord of the Rings» will officially debut tomorrow, August 29, on Prime Video — with the first three episodes. The remaining five episodes will be released weekly until October 3.

As a reminder, the first season, which was released in 2022, cost Amazon an incredible $450 million and, according to the studio, subsequently faced a wave of review bombing (spamming negative reviews in order to bring down the show’s rating). At the same time, further statistics showed that the show had been watched to the end by then only 37% of the audience.

So far, the first season of «The Rings of Power» remains the largest debut of Prime Video, attracting 25 million viewers on its premiere day. Let’s see if the sequel will break this record.