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Rating: 4 out of 5
Back in the day, when I was younger, I remember watching two animated films that made absolutely NO sense to me. Those films were the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings and the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit. This review will be on the live-action version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but I want to say if you watch the animated version, it is a headscratcher. I was young when I watched this film, and the animation and storyline were entirely confusing for me. First, J. R. R. Tolkien is an absolute beast coming up with a story, different races, and designing a language for individual races. Second, this is not a cartoon-like a Disney movie, so quickly I lost interest and moved on with my life.
Well, director Peter Jackson came along and was like, I will show the world this epic adventure, and I will take my time with each book to tell the adventure. Now, coming in at almost three hours, Jackson took Tolkien’s book and gave the world a look into this writer’s imaginary mind, and boy did he not hold back. This is the first in a remarkable trilogy, and it was done just right to keep you immensely entertained.
The film starts off with this epic prologue that draws you in. We learn that the Dark Lord Sauron created the rings of power for individual races: three for the elves, seven for the dwarfs, and nine for men. Yet, in secrecy, he forged the One Ring to bring all under his control. You don’t know how many times I did the whole scene of raising my hand, acting like I had the One Ring. Well, the last alliance of elves and men formed to bring down Sauron and his forces. During the deadly and epic battle, Sauron appears to be killed when the ring is cut off from his finger. The dude just exploded and disappeared, but since Sauron’s life is connected to the ring, he is not completely gone until the ring is destroyed. Since men are greedy and want power, Isildur, the son of the king and homeboy who cut off Sauron’s fingers, takes the ring for himself and falls into temptation from the ring. He decides to not throw the ring in the mountain lava. While riding, Isildur and his men are ambushed and killed by orcs, and the Ring is lost in the River Anduin.
You want to know how many years pass until somebody finds the ring?? Not 10 years or even a hundred years. 2500 years pass when the ring is found. Good thing elves live that long because civilizations come and go during that time. A creature named Gollum finds and takes the ring. He takes it underground for 500 years. So, this ring of power has been lost to the world for 3000 years!! That is crazy. Well, the ring pretty much says “Bye Felicia” and rolls out until it finds a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Holm). Bilbo keeps the ring for 60 years, where the actual story begins. On his 111th birthday, Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew and adopted heir Frodo Baggins (Wood). The Wizard Gandalf (McKellen) soon learns it is the One Ring, and the only way for Middle-Earth to finally be at peace is to destroy the ring once and for all. With the knowledge of the ring finally aware to the world, Sauron unleashes his force to find the One Ring so he can become whole again. A fellowship is soon formed with Gandalf and Frodo along with ranger Aragorn (Mortensen), Gimli (Rhys-Davies), the dwarf warrior, Legolas (Bloom), A prince of the elves’ Woodland Realm and a skilled archer, Boromir (Bean), A prince of the Stewards of Gondor, Merry (Monaghan), a distant cousin of Frodo, Pippin (Boyd), best friend of Merry, and finally the best of them all Samwise Gamgee (Astin), a hobbit gardener and Frodo’s best friend. The fellowship now must travel far and wide to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
Let’s give a BIG UP to director Peter Jackson. The dude’s vision and eye for storytelling and the flow of this film are all him. He let you become immersed in a fantasy story and truly develops an interest in the characters and what everyone is going through. J. R. R. Tolkien should be incredibly proud of what he saw because I know it’s not hard taking a book that is probably close to 500 pages and making it into a three-hour film. We all know you have to leave a lot of stuff out, but Jackson makes it flow so well that it works.
I want to say that it is so impressive that the story revolves around a single ring or the One Ring. How something so small can cause so much chaos and destruction. I love this film and story because no one ever knows the ring’s power’s true extent. They state they want to use it as a weapon, but they disappear when one person puts it on. The only time we ever saw the ring’s “power” was when Sauron was whipping ass on the battlefield. Dude didn’t look like he needed any help from his ring. I really need to read the books to better understand this film and the background because I have so many questions. Maybe I should ask Stephen Colbert.
The film has a HEAVY use of special effects, and you know what??? They are freakin amazing. There are times when special effects are straight garbage, and then there are times when they work so beautifully that it is just an added flavor to the overall film. This film is the latter because you really get a real image of what everything looks like. Sauron looks freaking fearsome as a dark lord. The whole battle scene at the beginning of the film. When Gandalf and the crew fight against the cave troll and then the Balrog was epic. Also, the special effects did a great job making Wood and Rhys-Davies look short as they are average height humans. Time and time again, the film delivers incredible and eye-catching special effects.
On the note of special effects, let’s give a shout out to New Zealand. GOD DAMN, some of those locations were straight-up BEAUTIFUL. Yo Peter! Where the hell you find that mountain because that was nice. This scene was great, not because the crew was trudging through the snow. It was an added effect when Frodo dropped the ring. How something so small looked gigantic to others. The look of Hobbiton and the Shire looked so cute and peaceful. Where simple life is. Everywhere you turn, it seems like each location was grander and had a sense of beauty to it. I can’t say enough how the scenery made this film. It made it feel like you were actually on a journey through many different terrains of Middle Earth.
Now with a fantasy movie, I think you have to notice the action scenes. This film has a nice little bit of it. It starts off strong with the whole battle scene during the prologue. The film does a very nice job putting in mini-scenes to keep you interested, like when the Nine chase Frodo and Arwen. Then it calms down for a little bit as the fellowship gets going on their journey. Things become real when the fellowship enters the mines and fights everything from a cave troll to goblins. The ending fight scene was incredible because Legolas was going beast mode with his arrows. Boromir went all righteous and started slaying orcs at a rapid pace. Aragorn was like, I’m going to show you how to use a sword. That final fight against that Orcs was incredible. I remember people clapping in the theater.
You want to talk about a film that developed TWO of the most iconic movie sayings and memes of all-time. First, we have the classic phrase, “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” Apparently, Sean Bean was looking down at his lines before delivering it. Dude, made you really think that Mordor was not a place to go to. Then the other line was delivered by Gandalf. How many times have people said, “You Shall Not Pass!” That was an intense scene but was on point.
The music in this film is FANTASTIC! It just draws you in when everything is happening. It blasts loudly when people are fighting, or it becomes somber and sad when someone is about to die. The music of this film is one of the many highlights of this film.
I want to talk about the acting, but everyone was so believable that I think it would be wrong to point out some and not others. Plus, the cast is pretty large in this film. I will say this because in the sequel reviews that my disdain for Frodo will come out. I can’t stand Frodo!! You will fall in love with a specific character throughout the trilogy. This is more of a getting to know you type film before some real personalities come out.
The Fellowship of the Ring is an excellent start to an epic trilogy. The story is incredible, along with the special effects that add to the story’s overall feel. Each location is beautiful to look at. Peter Jackson did a great job with this film, and excited for more to see.
