Fell Prey to the Hype Yet Again

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2001)

Once again, I hear nothing but great and wonderful things about a movie, and once again it's an undeniable disappointment. Such is the case with Lord of the Rings: "It's the second coming of Star Wars!!!" gushed the critics. "We couldn't believe the finished film when we saw it!" the actors salivated...well, there's no denying that this film has a leaden pace, with more than a few goofy moments and some badly shot(and sparse)action sequences.
Maybe it's just that I was so young when I saw films like Star wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, etc that they were so indelibly etched into my mind that I subconsciously hold them in higher regard than any movie has a right to held. Maybe I should go into every film and not expect anything...then it has to be somewhat good. What I have to do is stop believing every critic who is likely in the pocket of the studio, and every starry-eyed actor who thinks that because they're on screen, the film is wonderful.
Anyway, that said, LITR is not horrible. It's got excellent effects and visuals, very good acting and some clever scenes - it just doesn't inspire awe, like so many movies of my youth did (and still do). I can only assume the 9.5 rating came from fans of the books who know all the backstory and can fill in the gaps automatically.
I still want to see the sequels, but only to see if they improve upon this one.
7 out of 10.