Good story that won't confuse. Well done and appealing to anyone seeking fantasy and action.

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2014)

This movie is a classic, even though it is not much more than a decade old. The story is already a classic, which is probably why this, the first of the trilogy, was so much more successful than most other films in its position. Another reason why it probably got a lot of attention and success was because of the visual effects breakthrough marked by this movie. Having seen it in for the first time in 2010, I must say that the effects were as good as anything else I had seen at that point. In short, the CGI of the movie did nothing to impact my great appreciation and liking for this series. The story, as stated before, is a classic and will be admired for centuries to come, however, as with most classic books, Tolkein's style has lost its original appeal with the changing tastes of the literary audience. I think it is a great relief to most fans that the theatrical production of the books has the same spirit and some of the same style that Tolkien put into it, but also has modern touches that make it a best of both worlds, because honestly, I find the text's descriptions of the epic battle scenes to be rather dull when they are actually amazing. Neither style seems to interfere with the others, and the movies are widely regarded as masterpieces equal to the books. Unfortunately, the new Hobbit movies do not have that same balance, though they are still well done and successful thus far. As to the execution, there aren't many flaws. Howard Shore's score fits the mood perfectly with songs creating feelings of suspense, adventure, menace, and tranquility. Of course, the effects are as good as they get even by today's standards. The cinematography has a distinct style not found anywhere else, but flows well in the various series of shots. The script keeps the dignity of Tolkien's original text, but is briefer than the book, as it should be. I find the acting to be satisfactory, though Ian Holm doesn't always make the best transitions from the cheerful Bilbo to the slightly possessed Bilbo. Every character is given a moment of heroism, if not in the first movie, then in one of the other two. The character that is most impressive in this regard is Boromir. He is only included in the plot for about an hour and a half, which isn't that long considering that he is a supporting role and only has a brief introduction. His character is developed naturally but distinctively in very few scenes. Nothing he does at the end is at all incongruent with what we have seen up to that point. The same can be said of Sauroman, though his villainy is easier to get across with his fight scene with Gandalf and his incredibly menacing voice that pronounces all of the strange names of Middle Earth perfectly. I personally wan't thrilled with Elijah Woods performance, but it wasn't really bad. The same could be easily said about any of the main actors. There is no actor whose performance stands out on either end of the spectrum. Finally, I will address the action. It is primarily an adventure film. There is a pretty well spread amount of action scenes throughout, but most of the ones from the first half are flashbacks, so they don't have the same effect as the ones that come later. Still, it is all well choreographed and lives up to the PG-13 certification of "epic battle sequences", with the emphasis on epic. To close, I would recommend the movie to anyone who likes fantasy action or The Lord of the Rings books. It is very serious, so don't watch it with a big group unless that group is interested in the movie instead of socializing. The elephant in the room is that the movie is extremely long, so if you refuse to dedicate three hours in any variations of division to one movie, watch the cartoon version. Overall Rating: 9.5/10