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LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING Send This Review to a Friend
I have to admit a bias against the sort of weird, wild adventures in fantasy struggles of good versus evil, the sort that made reading J. R. R. Tolkien so popular with countless fans and now has resulted in a mighty film adaptation. I also must note that director Peter Jackson and co-screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Jackson, have succeeded nobly in bringing their action-packed, special effects-laden version to the screen.
That said, beyond the moments of bizarre visual interest, I felt assaulted and bored by the endless violent fighting, the onslaught of challenges, the gibberish about magical rings and magical powers--the whole bloody metaphorical mess. It just isn't my cup of fantasy, and all of the cinematic powers on glorious display can't make a difference.
The hobbits and the monsters, the heroes and the villains, the perils and the survival, the endless quest--they're all there with super expertise. The casting works, from Frodo the hobbit (Elija Wood) to Gandalf the wizard (Ian McKellen) to Galadriel, the Lady of the Wood (Cate Blanchett). One marvels at the effort on behalf of an army of creators that surely went into this enormous undertaking.
It's a very long film, two hours and forty-five minutes, and while you may well be properly enchanted as intended, it just wore me down and I couldn't wait to escape. But that's a very personal reaction. I have to stress again that "Lord of the Rings" is a terrific job of filmmaking geared to those who thrive on this sort of movie feast. P.S. There's more to come. A New Line Cinema release.
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