Lord of the Disappointment

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2012)

OK, so I'm 18 years old in a weeks time and am unashamed to admit that I've never read any of Tolkien's books nor even had the desire to. The truth is that I'm not particularly into all that magic Harry Potter stuff and would take the stark intensity of Chirstopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy over the Lord of the Rings any day. But after hearing such hype, especially from my favourite critic who often loves what I love, I thought the time had come to record them when they came on the TV. My plans were ceased from an orange man called Dale Winton, a program that my family would rather record than Lord of the Rings (they wouldn't even give it the time of day!) But fast-forward about 7 months later and there they are again on Channel 4, Christmas day, and so I stick the record on.
I didn't really know what to expect, but after hearing all the unbelievable hype I was excited to take a trip to Middle Earth and see what was so amazing about it all! But unfortunately I came out watching a fun, if not occasionally dragging, swords and sorcery epic that did lose me on more than a couple of occasions. I enjoyed it enough to go and watch the other two, but was simply not blown away like everyone else. I enjoyed the opening narration about the origins of the ring and its wearer etc. I thought that it effectively transported the audience into another world which also had some rather breath-taking imagery. I also enjoyed the time at the shire where there was some very likable characters and surprising humour that did not go a miss! It was just once the hooded horsemen were introduced that things began to drag, and unsurprisingly in a three hour film. It began to lose me with its unnecessary complexity such as the encounter with Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee, that scene confused me and some of the dialogue also had me puzzled thanks to their wizardy speak such as, "We must retire to Mount Maduro" etc. I also felt that some characters and plot lines were unnecessary and detracted from the story, such as the elf woman who wasn't in it for long and didn't really have a lot to do, other than send a tidal wave to the hooded horsemen. The plot also went off on a tangent such as when they "enterted the realm of the witch". I didn't feel that there was any need for it and it just slowed down the pace that was beginning to pick up.
It also takes quite a long time for the fellowship to actually be created, as it's from there that the adventure really begins and its at least mid-way through, if not over. However, there were a lot of good points about the film. The characters were very strong and I found myself forming attachments to them (not a euphemism). When one of them bit the dust, I did actually care! There are relationships which we can all relate to and it does help to drive the story along and make you care about their quest. There was also some breath-taking cinematography and scenery which really showed off the epic scope of the film. Some of the directing was also very impressive and memorable such as the sweeping shot over Christopher Lee's place.
However, in a film with a three hour running time I did expect a little more action than I got! I also didn't think the action was that well handled, with shots being taken too close and too many quick cuts which make it hard to see what's going on. I'd say that there's more thrills and fun to be had in King Kong and that the action sequences in that are better handled. Hopefully we can see Peter Jackson mature as a director as the series goes on like Christopher Nolan did.
In the end, it's down to personal preference. I'm not entirely into magic and fantasy, but the characters and underlying simple narrative makes the film relatable and very watchable. I expect more from the following two, as Fellowship did leave me feeling disappointed. I didn't find it as amazingly mind-blowing as everyone else, but maybe that's because I haven't read the book/s. I may enjoy them more if I set my expectations at a lower level, but nevertheless the spectacular imagery and set pieces do make this film memorable.