THE LORD OF THE RINGS: Fellowship Of The Ring - 2001
New Line Cinema
Rated: USA: PG-13 |
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There are two kinds of people in this world: those who divide people into two groups
and those who don’t. More to the point, there are those who read and loved
and became obsessed with the three “Lord of the Rings” books, and those
who’ve never read them. Since I have a tattoo that contains an elvish
letter, you would be correct in assuming I am in the first category. But
to give an honest review of this movie I have to be of two minds and try
to see it from both points of view.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: Fellowship Of The Ring is the first movie in a trilogy, all directed by Peter Jackson (BAD
TASTE, DEAD ALIVE, THE FRIGHTENERS, KING KONG). The screenplay was written by Mr. Jackson along with Fran Walsh (DEAD ALIVE, THE FRIGHTENERS) and Philippa Boyens (her first movie), of course based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkein.
There is an unfortunate tendency in fantasy stories to begin by deluging their
audience with a sort of “world history” lesson. Tolkein himself did this
with a prologue in the first book that relates the details of “The Hobbit”
(his first book and not part of the trilogy, though it is part of the overall story) as well as some details about
the history of Middle Earth. In a book it’s bearable because you can skip
it if you want but in a movie you can’t (not until it’s on tape or DVD). This movie starts out with a history lesson
that contained some cool effects and (for a Middle Earth scholar) interesting details, but for the average viewer
it’s just boring exposition and just leaves you with a “who did what now?”
kind of feeling. In the book the major characters don’t know what the
ring is or what it’s dark purpose may be and we discover it along with
them.
The movie should have done the same.
The movie really begins in the Shire, a pleasant land of rolling green hills on
the vaguely European-looking but entirely mythical continent of Middle-Earth
(some unbelievably stupid reviewers have assumed “Middle Earth” meant it was underground. No.). The Shire is inhabited
by a humanoid race known as “hobbits” (sometimes called “halflings”). Hobbits are small, have big hairy feet and
live in well-furnished underground houses. They are pleasant people but
like to mind their own business and never travel very far. The one exception
to the traveling rule is a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Ian
Holm: ALIEN, eXistenZ). His single long trip (the subject
of a book he’s been working on for the last 60 years or so, called “There
and Back Again”) was described in the book "The Hobbit", but you
don't need to know that to enjoy the story. In fact the Shire is preparing
to celebrate Bilbo’s 111th birthday. Hobbits are long lived (you’re not considered an adult until you're in your 30’s) but even so 111 is up there.
Arriving for the party is a wizard named Gandalf the Grey (Ian
McKellan: APT PUPIL, X-MEN), an old friend of the Baggins
family. Gandalf is warmly greeted by Bilbo’s nephew Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood: THE FACULTY).
Frodo is the central character of the trilogy.
Gandalf provides magical fireworks and a good time is had by all, until Bilbo gets up to
make a speech. He announces that it's high time he went out and saw the
world again. At that moment he surreptitiously slips a simple-looking
gold ring on his finger and promptly vanishes, startling everyone. This
ring was one of many valuable items Bilbo recovered on his previous adventure.
At first it just seemed to have the ability to make it's wearer invisible,
but lately Gandalf has begun to suspect it may be much more than that.
Before Bilbo leaves town Gandalf has a talk with him about the ring. Bilbo had told
Gandalf that he was giving the ring to Frodo, along with all his other
belongings. But now Bilbo seems oddly drawn to the ring, as though giving
it up would be unthinkable. In a supreme effort of will power Bilbo drops
the ring on the floor and runs from the house. Gandalf finds he can't
bring himself to touch it, and waits for Frodo to do that for him.
Frodo is confused when Gandalf tells him to keep the ring hidden and then immediately
leaves, but he does as asked. Soon after strange, hissing creatures dressed
in black and riding black horses are seen near the Shire. Gandalf returns
and asks for the ring, which he promptly tosses in the fireplace. The
flames don't hurt the ring – instead they make an inscription visible,
which Gandalf translates as "One ring to rule them all, one ring to find
them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." His worst
fears are confirmed. This is the One Ring.
For the newbies: There is an evil Demon named Sauron who once tried to rule all of Middle
Earth. He did this by tricking the leaders of the three major races (humans,
elves and dwarves) into wearing rings of power. What they didn't
know is that Sauron had made himself a single ring that could control
all the others. In a war fought 2500 years ago, Sauron almost succeeded
but a great human warrior cut off Sauron's ring finger. Since Sauron had
poured all his power and life force into the ring he could not live without
it. His physical form was destroyed but his spirit remained.
Gandalf tells Frodo he must leave the Shire at once. A noise outside alerts them to
the presence of Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin: THE WILLIES), Frodo's good friend and manservant. Having apparently
overheard everything Gandalf presses Sam into service and tells him to
keep Frodo safe. They all agree to meet up at an inn in the nearby human
town of Bree. Gandalf has another stop he has to make first.
Gandalf heads south to the castle of his good friend and leader of the order of wizards,
Saruman (Christopher Lee: CITY OF THE DEAD, DRACULA: HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, THE WICKERMAN, SLEEPY HOLLOW). Gandalf is there to seek advice, now that he knows he has found The One Ring.
Meanwhile Frodo and Sam set off on their journey. They try to be as secretive as
possible but still stumble into a couple more hobbit friends (and
the movie’s comedy relief), Merry (Dominic
Monoghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd: URBAN GHOST
STORY).
Gandalf is not waiting for them at the Inn of the Prancing Pony as planned. Instead
they meet an unsavory looking character named Strider (Viggo Mortensen: THE PROPHECY, PSYCHO [1999]).
He helps the group reach Rivendell, an elf city run by the elf lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving: THE
MATRIX).
It's at Rivendell that the title finally makes sense, for here a council of the various
races and kingdoms is called to decide what to do about the ring. Some
want to use the power of the ring but just like the dark side of the force,
the power of the ring will corrupt any who use it, turning them into a
dark lord. It is finally agreed that the ring must be destroyed, thus
destroying Sauron once and for all. Unfortunately the ring can only be
unmade in the place it was made: the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, deep
in the land of Mordor. A fellowship is put together to accompany Frodo
on his journey. It consists of Frodo's three hobbit friends, Gandalf (who
has returned from his own journey), Strider, an elf named Legolas
(Orlando Bloom: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), a dwarf named Gimli (John
Rhys-Davies: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, WAXWORK) and a human prince
named Boromir (Sean Bean). Boromir is the
one strongly advocating using the ring themselves, because his home kingdom
of Gondor is near Mordor and will be the first to feel Sauron's wrath.
The fellowship sets off and then . . . well, you’ll see.
There are
a great many wonderful scenes in this movie but they were kind of few
and far between. This is almost a three-hour film but if Jackson had included
every detail it could easily have been six (serious
fans will be disappointed that characters like Tom Bombadil are missing
entirely). Even so a lot of time could have been saved skipping
exposition (show, don't tell) and spending
less time on greetings and introductions (when this
movie comes out on DVD you could have a drinking game where everybody
has to do a shot whenever someone says, "Hello, old friend.").
The lure of the ring is well played, as everyone who comes near it clearly toys
with the idea of giving it a try, thinking, "It won't corrupt me if I
just wear it for a little while." And the friendship between the characters
is believable and devastating when some are lost. I enjoyed every minute
of it just because I enjoyed seeing Middle Earth brought to life. I was
tempted to give this movie two ratings, one for fans of the books and
one for those who are not, but that's too wishy washy. I have to take
into account the flaws I mentioned above and give THE
LORD OF THE RINGS: Fellowship Of The Ring three shriek girls.
This review
copyright 2001 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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