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Reviews - The Fellowship of the Ring |
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Peter Jackson is not a God. His movie is
not some epiphany or some out of body, transcendental experience. I have
heard too much of that kind of talk lately when it has come to his 'Lord
of the Rings' movie. The first installment, was a finely crafted,
delicate piece of art that will become something very special to a great
many of people. In the coming years I would expect Elfin to rival
Klingon of the alternate language of, well ... geeks. There is no doubt
in my mind, that these movies will inspire the underground or silent
cult following of Middle Earth and all things Tolkien to rise to
prominence to rival the following of Star Wars or Star Trek.
Simply put this movie, (and again I need to stress that this is only the
first of three) was brilliant. Trying to absorb what I witnessed on the
screen is a daunting task. There was so much, yet it was never cluttered
or confused looking for a way out of a corner it had written itself
into. Just when I was thinking there must be another hour or so left in
the movie, the credits came up. Three hours had gone by already? This
movie was superbly written. The characters actually have personalities
beyond any one dimensional stereotype. The cinematography was
outstanding. Filming in New Zealand provided some of the most gorgeous
pictures ever, and the cg... huh, you mean there was cg? Never noticed
it. After my eyes became accustomed to seeing the enhanced half size
Frodo next to Gandalf, after that, I never thought of it again.
I'm trying hard to think of something negative about the movie, I
haven't yet. It adequately provided those without the benefit of reading
the Hobbit the background very much needed to understand, without
alienating those who have read all the books. The casting of the movie
was dead on. Only once did I think to myself "Hey that's Agent
Smith" - from the Matrix, who is Elron, leader of the Elfin people.
However, none of the big names in the movie made you think that they
were anyone else but their characters on screen. I was actually very
impressed with Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, an elf who joined the
Fellowship. He very quickly became one of my favorite characters,
without being a distraction.
Peter Jackson was a no name to me before this movie. I had heard of him,
but never saw any of his pictures. He deserves so much credit for what
he has accomplished here. A satisfying point about this movies and the
sequels, is that they can't be tainted by the success the first movie is
going to have. Money won't go to people's heads, at least not for these
movies. By the unprecedented task of filming back to back to back Peter
Jackson has pretty much ensured that the next two films will be of the
same high quality with the same wonderful storytelling that often gets
lost so badly when people try to put together a sequel to a blockbuster.
All the same wonderful actors will be in all of them - no money holdouts
- no looking for percentage points - just great acting.
The impressive aspect of this movie was its ability to draw the viewer
into its world. A couple of times I had to snap myself out my trance
like state, only to shift positions as my foot fell asleep. When a movie
can captivate you with its incredibly fine acting, wonderful
storytelling and fine direction you know that you have just witnessed
something special. Movies like this are few and far between. They differ
for most people. I'm sure that some people wont care for this movie. It
happens. For anyone to suggest otherwise is ludicrous. For me this was
one of those special movies. The last time a movie blew me away like
this was The Matrix. The Matrix redefined a genre of movies, raising the
proverbial bar. Fellowship has done the same.
- 10/10 (from start to finish)
Blair Barbesin -
Contributor
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