|
 eter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the
Ring" is an amazing film to behold. Consider that the movie, the first in a
trilogy based on the J.R.R. Tolkien books, is probably the most ambitious
filmmaking project in the history of film, and that it took 2 years and $300
million to make, and you know you're dealing with someone with guts.
Besides being shot back-to-back-to-back, "LOTR" looks gorgeous, which
bodes well for its two sequels, to be released in the next two years, with one
movie per year.
"LOTR" follows Frodo (Elijah Wood),
a young hobbit (a race of beings about half the size of man) who has
just inherited a plain-looking but extremely powerful (and evil) ring from
another, much-older hobbit name Bilbo (Ian Holm). The ring was forged by and
belongs to an evil entity called Sauron, a "dark Lord" who attempted
to take over Middle Earth (the movie's name for its world) thousands of
years ago, only to be foiled by a joint army of elves and humans. The ring was
lost, and has now resurfaced thousands of years later in the hands of Bilbo. And
now poor Frodo, who dreams of adventure and leaving his hobbit home to discover
the world outside, suddenly finds himself way over his head, as the long-dead
Sauron begins to show signs of re-emergence and sends a group of black-cloaked
horsemen called the Ring Wraiths to find his ring. What's a Hobbit to do?
Luckily Frodo has friends. Powerful, and knowledgeable
friends. With the wise advice and mentoring of
Gandalf the Wizard (Ian McKellen), Frodo must journey to the place of the ring's
creation and destroy it before Sauron can get his evil hands on it again and
doom Middle Earth. Talk about pressure!
As you might have guessed, the
movie is rife with long archaic-sounding names of places and grandiose character
titles. Everyone's a King, a Queen, some kind of Lord this, Lord that -- you get
the idea. It's fantasy, folks, and that means some guy name J.R.R. Tolkien
spent a lot of time coming up with goofy names for people, places, and
long-winded titles for both. Despite all the hubbub surrounding the fine points
about persons and places, the movie's world is richly detailed, and under
Jackson's skilled hands, the world of "LOTR" comes alive in vibrant colors.
This movie is just breathtaking to behold.
It can't be said enough how stunning the world of
"LOTR" is, from the plain vanilla (but quaint) look of the hobbit's Shire town to the
majestic and magical aura of Rivendell, the home of the elves. Even the shortest
transition scene is filled with richly-detailed CGI. There is no doubt that
Jackson has lavished as much passion and money into every little (and seemingly
insignificant) shot. As the saying goes, "All the money is on the
screen."
"LOTR" is ambitious in everything it does -- from the look to
the acting to the writing to the sheer concept of a 3-part film to be released a
year apart. True to form, the ending comes quite unexpectedly -- or at least,
unexpected for anyone who hasn't read the book (as I haven't). Which leaves me
with my only quibble with the film. Not having read the books, I came to
"LOTR" Part One with an open slate, ready to be entertained, and was
shocked by the sudden ending -- which, of course, is supposed to easily move
into Part Two, "The Two Towers." Of course, I didn't know this, and
was caught off guard. Because of that, I was a little bothered that I had paid
full price to see an unfinished film. Yes, everything was perfect up to
that point, and even full price seemed worth it, but I couldn't help
feeling...cheated.
The acting in "LOTR" is quite exceptional. Liv
Tyler shows up as Arwen, an elf who helps Frodo escape the Ring Wraiths. Arwen
is also the love interest for Strider (Viggo Mortensen), who, I believe, is some
kind of King on a self-imposed exile (don't ask, I didn't quite catch what he
was). Mortensen's Strider is a brooding but excellent warrior, and becomes a
leader on the journey to destroy the ring -- the "fellowship" of the
title. There are enough characters in "LOTR" with speaking lines and
important roles in the trilogy's scheme, but there's so many that it's
impossible to list them all. They all have very individual personalities, but I
wouldn't presume to remember them all -- or at least, their names.
Regardless, "LOTR" is a spectacular and
breathtaking film. It's a wild adventure filled with action, cutting edge CGI,
animation, and brilliant set designs. I just wish someone had told me the film
would just suddenly end after 3 hours. Is that so much to ask?
|
