Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

THE LORD OF THE RINGS
- THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING -
Oh, so THAT'S what 'epic' means.

Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, and...lots more. Directed by Peter Jackson, 2002.

Let me get this straight right from the get-go...I'm not a Lord of the Rings fan. I've never read a Tolkien book. In fact, I generally shy away from ANYTHING with an elf or a hobbit in it. Can't say why I have this particular bigotry about me, it's just the way I am and you'll have to live with it. Or at least, my roommate will. The rest of you can feel free to distance youselves as much as possible.

That said...

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is the first movie in a planned trilogy, based on the classic books by J.R.R.Tolkien, a pioneer fantasy writer, who was apparently also quite stark raving mad. I say that with all affection, mind you. It's just that, when you put THAT kind of effort into a book...creating several working, distinct languages and whatnot...well, you're not exactly suited for regular life, are you? And bless the man, cause he's delivered unto us, through the brilliant director Peter Jackson (who brought to life one of THE masterpieces of the last decade, HEAVENLY CREATURES), a movie truly worthy of the word epic. And mister Lucas..? Feel free to take notes.

The story for those who aren't aware (and welcome back from that rock you've been hiding under) involves a mythological place called 'middle-earth', where man dwells alongside other races like Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, and Hobbits. We learn early on that, three thousand years past, a terrible villain called Sauron forged a magic ring, that would purportedly give him great power over all things. Just what exactly the ring's power IS is left somewhat vague in the movie, although I'm sure Tolkien-fans could no doubt provide me with a comprehensive study of it's abilities, annotated in Elvish, at a moment's notice.

But whatever. Sauron is defeated all those millenia ago and the ring is lost, only to be found in recent times by a hobbit (basically a short man with big feet) named Bilbo Baggins. He eventually bequeathes this token to his nephew Frodo (played with sincerity, only occasionaly nauseating in intensity, by Elijah Wood), who soon becomes hunted by the forces of darkness who are attempting to recapture the evil band for their lord Sauron. Like so many 80's bands, Sauron is trying to make a comeback, and just like when SAGA tried it, everyone thinks it's a bad idea. Helped by the wizard Gandalf (who is portrayed with thunderous zeal and charm by Sir Ian McKellen) and some fellow Hobbits, Frodo makes his way to the Elven city of Rivendell, where the fellowship of the title is formed, to bring the ring back to it's forge to be destroyed.

This is the cliff-notes version you're getting, be sure. This is a dense, meticulously plotted story, thought out in detail that is humbling to consider. Tolkien makes Ludlum look like a soap opera scribe. Having, as I mentioned, not read the books, I can't venture on how it succeeds on the written page. But it was obviously a daunting task for a movie, long thought impossible. To the surprise of many, it was not. To even greater surprise is the extent to which Jackson and company have succeeded in turning this literary work into what will likely be thought of as THE epic for this generation. Virtually everything in this movie works, and works extremely well. Almost every performance is exceptional and memorable (the token female characters are a possible exception...but my Tolkien contact tells me that women always WERE A problem for the great fantasist), with Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee as the grand counterpoints of the forces of good and evil. The look of the picture is, basically, perfection. Mind-boggling sets and production make it all too easy to be swept away in the film's grand scope, and the soaring musical score is everything you'd want. The action pieces, alternating from more intimate battles between the mysterious Strider (aka Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen) and a downright scary group of cloaked, terminator-ish knights called 'ringwraiths', or the fantastic adventures in the Dwarven mines involving giant Trolls, swarms of Orcs, and something resembling the villain in DIABLO, are a wonder to behold.

There ARE flaws in the movie, it's true, but considering the size and scope of the picture they're almost too few too mention. One point of note, and something that bothered ME quite a bit after first viewing is that those unfamiliar with the literary trilogy will doubtless be VERY surprised at the ending of the first movie, and not really in the good way.

But it's forgiveable. After all, the three movies of this trilogy were essentially filmed at the same time, to be released one year apart from one another. As someone who had to wait three years to see if Han got out of the carbonite, lemme tell ya, I can do ONE year standing on my head.

This movie will doubtless please all the LOTR fans out there who have been clamouring for a movie (except those ones who simply will not put up with ANY alteration of the text, to whom I must point out that fifteen-hour movies are not considered commercially feasible, so take what you can get), but more importantly, it'll please us newbies as well. It's grand, it's fun, it kicks a whole lot of ass. And best of all? We get another one for Christmas next year. And the year after that...

Life is good sometimes. Sit back and enjoy.

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