Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring
***
Cinema
Releases - December 21, 2001
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate PG. 178
minutes. Directed by Peter Jackson. Written by Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson,
Frances Walsh; from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Starring Elijah Wood, Ian
McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett,
Liv Tyler.
I happen to be one of the few readers of the world
unfamiliar with J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series. I tried and
failed to read the books as a kid -- all that convoluted fantasy history
and all those strange nouns put me off. I picked the books up again recently,
and found that they were easier than I thought, but I still couldn't be
bothered.
Uninformed of a classic literary work I may be,
but at least I was able to approach "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring" without any baggage. Tolkien devotees will undoubtedly
quibble over details, but I was new to this story of mythical dwarfs known
as Hobbits trying to save Middle Earth from the enslaving power of a coveted
ring, and free to judge it independently as a piece of cinema.
Peter Jackson's film has creatures terrifying
and wondrous, massive battle scenes and settings that mix medieval fact with
supernatural imagination. We've been hearing for almost two years about how
New Line Cinema invested several hundred million dollars to undertake the
shooting of three lavish "Lord of the Rings" movies, and Jackson has not
let us down in terms of giving us an awesome visual spectacle.
The cinematography frames action toweringly and
is lit with a magical glow. Special effects are the lifeblood of the film,
and they're impeccable because they're invisible, with every epic fight,
every monster, every otherworldly setting appearing convincingly and
breathtakingly. Forget the words of a movie review -- just look at a still.
We expected this movie to delight the senses, and it does; just because we
predicted the fact doesn't mean we should underestimate how hard it was to
pull off. "Fellowship of the Ring" deserves all the technical praise in the
world.
And yet it is far from being a masterpiece --
unlike movies with similar structures such as "Star Wars" and "The Matrix",
it lacks personality, and it's hard to really connect with the material.
Characters like Luke Skyalker and Neo truly lived and breathed; they weren't
written with overwhelming complexity, but they were brought to the screen
with humanity and wit. The first third of "Fellowship" fails at drawing us
in; instead of introducing the characters, it skims over them and appears
stiff. After that, the masses of plot take over and we're caught up in following
the story, but we'd have more incentive to do so if we were hooked on a gut
level.
Of course, there's so much plot that it sweeps
away our attention, and we can't help but get involved. "Fellowship of the
Ring" could have been more striking, and at three hours it's more than a
little tiring -- but it still offers captivating story and visuals. There
is no doubt that it's worth seeing, and yes, I'm looking forward to the
sequels.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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