Another perfect score!

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2012)

"Fellowship of the Ring" has absolutely everything a movie needs. First of all the cast and their performances were top notch. I was not disappointed at all. At first I was somewhat skeptical about Elijah Wood playing Frodo Baggins, and I was never too impressed with his acting ability to begin with. Now after seeing this film, I can't see any other actor portraying Frodo, other than young Elijah. I was very pleased by his performance, but very disappointed that he did not get an Oscar nomination. As for Viggo Mortenson playing the heroic Aragorn, I knew he would be great the moment I saw him in the trailer for the film months before it was released. He looked and breathed Aragorn, just as I imagined Aragorn would when I read the books years ago. Sean Bean was terrific as the brave, but weak -willed Boromir. And of course Sir Ian McKellan was perfect as Gandalf the Grey. In fact, he is Gandalf. Every time he was shown on screen, he stole the scene. I'm just upset he didn't win the Oscar. The rest of the cast was great as well. I was very happy with their performances.
The scenery and cinematography is indeed flawless. After seeing this movie, I immediately wanted to visit New Zealand. It's as if New Zealand is Middle Earth. The art direction and costume design is extraordinarily detailed. Everything from the celestial buildings of the Elves in Rivendell, to the Celtic designs in the Dwarven armor, to the dark and Satanic vision of Sauron's fortress are truly awesome. The make-up and creature effects are the best I've ever seen. The Orcs aren't just stupid, mindless killing machines. They really are terrifying. The Black Riders were my favorite though. They stole the scene every time they were on. As for the visual and computer generated effects, you couldn't do any better. The demonic Balrog was amazing. It was definitely one of the movie's best parts. And of course, Peter Jackson's direction was top-notch. I was so pleased when I found out he was doing the film, and not some huge, big-time Hollywood filmmaker like Lucas, Spielberg or Cameron. Don't get me wrong, they are brilliant filmmakers, but they all tend to throw in something very cutesy for the little kids so the movie would be more commercial. I knew of course Jackson would never do that. The action sequences and battle scenes are very exciting, and the ending leaves you wanting more. I felt it ended very well.
Overall a perfect score for a perfect film.