DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE

Rating: 2/10 (20 January 2002)

I thought I'd better give this film (and book) a go, given that there's such a fanatical cult surrounding it. However I really should have done this as a child if I was going to enjoy it, because like Star Wars it's absolutely terrible unless you grew up with it.
For the book itself there is undoubted scope to Tolkien's vision, but the writing is just horrible. It lurches between twee and portentous. What surprised me about the book was the lack of chacterisation- there are a lot (and i mean alot) of descriptive pieces about places and events in the past, but I felt a lack of empathy with the characters.
As for the film, my major criticism is that the dialogue is abyssmal - Leading me keep to think of it as one huge Monty Python sketch, and I was just waiting for the gags to arrive. The characterisation is also poor. I would say these criticisms can also be made of the written version of Lord Of the Rings, so perhaps I shouldn't judge Jacksons adaption too harshly.
To me it tries so hard to be all deep, meaningful and serious but it just ends up being pretty dull. That goes for both the dialogue and storyline. Someone will probably say that I have "missed the point" of the book but there never seems to be a point! A point where I stop and re-assess my opinions, a point where I am moved, a point where I even become at all intereseted in what is going to happen next to the one dimensional characters.
Its not a BAD film as such.The director, Peter Jackson has used to magical effect the New Zealand landscape - its snow-capped mountains, idyllic farmland and often exotic flora. The sets and special effects are near flawless. However this alone does not make a good movie, never mind a great one - certainly not the greatest film of all time (as the vote on this site currently has it). My only explanation for this high placing is that either an awful lot of people have never seen great cinema (or even slightly above average!) OR that a group of Tolkien fans are multi-voting and rigging the results. Perhaps a bit of both.
It's already getting to the point where critique of this film is seen as blasphemy and it's only been out a few weeks!