Go see this movie.
There.
That's really all you need me to say. And
considering my own creeping feelings of inadequacy at this whole movie critic thing, it's
probably all I should say. Except the Unwritten Laws of Criticism tell me that I have to
give you a why. Regardless of my own fears and insecurities, I must tell you why.
So, all right.
Why?
Because there is nothing worse than a bad filmatic adaptation of a book, so it's a tragedy when good adaptations slip through the cracks and go unnoticed. The Fellowship of the Ring could easily slip through the cracks and prove that the Hollywood suits were right. Lord knows we can't have that.
Back when the Trilogy still languished in Development Hell, the Hollywood suits were demanding Peter Jackson find a way to condense all three books into one movie, ensuring that the Lord of the Rings brand name could be attached to one easily marketable product. Thankfully for us all, they did not triumph and the Trilogy is set to remain a Trilogy, the way God and J.R.R. Tolkien's publishers intended.
Regardless, this movie must succeed at the box office. It has to turn itself a profit, or the other two pictures might still languish in Pre-Release Hell on the whims of the skittish Bean Counters who are wormed so deeply into the movie business. This is probably all just the paranoid ramblings of a self-effacing amateur but...well...so be it.
Now comes the standard disclaimer all us nerds are putting at the beginnings of our reviews. (*ahem*) A Tolkien fan wrote this review. As such, it talks about stuff that'll probably spoil the movie for the uninitiated out there. If you haven't read a lick of Tolkien in your whole sick, sorry life, stop reading now and go pick up The Hobbit. Book or cartoon, it doesn't really matter. Both have dragons in them, so both automatically kick ass.
As for the rest of you...
The Fellowship of the Ring begins (surprise) with a voiceover giving us all the necessary set-up, along with one of the best fantasy battle sequences ever filmed. Utilizing the miracles of modern technology (the closest thing to magic director Jackson had on hand), the movie brings the Battle of Barad-dur to glorious life. We see swarms of Orcs battling legions of Men and Elves and even though the sequence barely runs five minutes, I was hooked from frame one. Oh, yes, I thought, as I watched Elrond (Hugo "Agent Smith" Weaving) shout orders to his archers in Elfish. This is gonna be sweeter than sweet.
More importantly, we see the human Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron, destroying the Dark Lord of Mordor...for a little while, at least. Instead of destroying it and its evil power, Isildur took the Ring for himself, wishing to make it an heirloom of his house. But we all know what happened instead. Rings of Power have a will of their own, especially ones forged by the Dark Lord.
So, centuries later, the Ring is found by the unlikeliest of creatures: a Hobbit named Bilbo (Ian Holm). Our story proper begins with Bilbo's 111th birthday party, when the old Hobbit announces that he'll be departing the Shire and leaving everything to his nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood). Including his magic ring...after whole lot of coaxing from his old friend, Gandalf the wizard (Ian McKellen). The ring, it appears, is a bitch to let go.
Gandalf has a few suspicions about Bilbo's magic ring, and some montage-sequence research confirms his worst fears. The ring is, in fact, the Ring, and Frodo had best haul ass out of the Shire A.S.A.P. Dark things are on the move again. Sauron's growing stronger by the day. He's pulling the evil things of the land back towards his stronghold in Mordor. And he's looking for his ring.
Ah, hell, you know the story. Or you should. If you honestly don't than not only are you culturally illiterate, you're an A-one dumb ass, too.
Never mind. Prejudice only destroys. The rest of the movie follows Frodo as he journeys out of the Shire with his servant Samwise (Sean Astin) and two Hobbit friends, Meriadoc and Pippin (Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd). Pursued every step of the way by the nine Black Riders, the four--plus a mysterious sword fighting' badass named Strider (Viggo Mortensen)--reach Elrond's house in Rivendell, where the council of Elrond decides just what the hell to do with the Ring.
It is decided that Frodo shall be Ringbearer, charged with delivering the Ring to the heart of Mordor and tossing it down into the fires of Mount Doom, the only place on Middle-earth where it can be unmade. A Fellowship of beings, composed of every race in Middle-earth, forms to protect Frodo and see him safely along. Together, they set out on their seemingly impossible quest with no choice but to succeed. It's either that, or the world is covered in Darkness.
Whew. That took longer than I thought it would. But then, this is a long damn movie with a lot of stuff going on. The uninitiated will just have to sit up and pay attention unless they want to be hopelessly lost.
Or maybe not. Yes, it's a long movie, but the expert pacing pleasantly surprised me. Thanks to Jackson's directing (man, dude, you just love those sweeping helicopter shots, don't you?) and assloads of excellent eye candy, you'll have to be doped to the gills to fall asleep on this flick. Jackson manages to balance the tense chase scenes and frantic battles with some very warm and (yes, I'm man enough to admit it) touching character scenes in the same way Tolkien did in his books.
Because that's the heart of this picture: the characters. Particularly Frodo Baggins.
As every media source in existence has pointed out, he's the Everyman that we're all
supposed to identify with. And you do, by cricky, you do. Frodo's no King Arthor, he's
just a regular guy who'd much rather be sitting at home with a book and a tobacco product
than saving the world from Ultimate Evil...but there are things that must be done, even if
the weight of duty is heavy.
You can feel that weight in Elijah Wood's performance and that's all that we fantasy fans could hope for. All and more. I feel for the guy, right down to my bones. He's got the gift. You look at him and you think, Wow. Now that's Frodo, and I give thanks to Wood for nailing one of the biggest little characters in fantasy fiction so well. It probably wasn't easy. No, scratch that, it definitely wasn't easy. I wouldn't want the job of Frodo if you threw it at me wrapped in gold pressed latinum. I'd much rather be the voice of Sauron, anyway.
Best of all, Ian McKellen throws all his Shakespearean strength into Gandalf the Gray, giving a fresh take on the old wizard. When I think of Gandalf, I'll probably always think of John Huston, but McKellen will be a damn close second. Some actors could've easily gone over the top with this role but McKellen brings a strange humanity to the role. Sure Gandalfs a grand master wizard...but he's also a person, trying to help a friend who must take an impossible quest.
Other roles that could've been easily over acted: Strider the Ranger (with the Shady Past). Actors that resisted the urge to take it over the top thus earning my praise: Viggo Mortensen. When he's not slicing and dicing his way through Ringwraiths on the battlefield, Strider's gets more than a few character scenes to show that he's got a great weight to carry, too. One that will play heavily in the next two movies. The fans in the crowd already know what Strider's Big Secret is, but, despite my early disclaimer, I really don't have the heart to spoil it.
I've got similar qualms when it comes to talking about the human warrior Boromir as played by Sean Bean. He's got quite the character arch to go through, so I'll just tell you that Bean pulls things off well and move on.
In fact, the entire Fellowship is a treat to watch. This is quite the collection of characters and the fact that we don't spend more time with them makes me a little sad. But I enjoyed watching these guys. Pretty boy Orlando Bloom as the Elven archer Legolas, the always impeccable John Rhys-Davies as the ax wielding Dwarf Gimli...hell, even Pippin and Merry gave me a little chuckle, despite the fact that they've both been sandwiched into the role of Odious Comic Relief. Hell, I even got a kick out of Samwise, and he doesn't turn into a likeable character until we get to Return of the King.
A word to the hardcore fans: yes, some things have been changed. But don't worry. You all remember 1978's Lord of the Rings, don't you? Well, take heart: things ain't that bad. This adaptation (written by Philippa Boyens, Frances Walsh and director Jackson) is much more faithful to its source material. Some things are excised for pacing purposes. Some are switched around a bit. But nothing essential is lost. The meat of the story survives, and it survives both untainted and jazzed up with stuff that Rankin/Bass couldn't even dream of.
Everything about this movie is crafted to give you an authentic picture of Middle-earth. From the Shire ("That's just how I pictured it," my friend says to me) to the tranquility of Rivendell to the mines of Moria (featuring the greatest Barlog ever, praise Jesus yes!) to the dark towers of Barad-dur, topped with the flaming Eye of Sauron. From the distorted reality as seen through the Ring to the flashbacks to the Crack of Doom. From Gladriel to Guwiere. It's all here and it's all beautifully filmed and the special effects are great and...damnit, go see this movie.
That's really all I need to tell you.
And now that I've told you why I can leave you, and go deal with my own fears and insecurities.
