Entertaining, but different than I expected.

Rating: 9/10 (18 October 2002)

After reading The Fellowship of the Ring back in my high school days, I remember making somewhat of a mistake in watching the Ralph Bakshi animated version first. It was this that formed my vision of what Middle Earth should look like. I was impressed by its ambience, and taken in by its presentation of the characters. The novel had such great and epic scope. Then I excitedly went to see The Fellowship of the Rings in live action form. The movie I've been waiting for for years. But I have some good news and some bad news.
First, the bad news. Upon seeing the movie back in December of 2001, I left the theatre disappointed. As I watched the movie, I felt that it had been strangely "Americanized" (despite that it was made by a New Zealander in New Zealand). A full British cast would have done so much more justice to the performance and flow of the story, as it originate from the mind of a British writer. Ian McKellan is fantastic as Gandal. No one could have been cast better. And Ian Holm is great as Bilbo Baggins, among a few others. I was, however, disappointed in the Balrog, as it looked way cool in Bakshi's film but less beastly and corporeal in the live action film. Also lost is a significant sense of discovery that all fantasy stories like this require. Fortunately, there remains only a few other things to negate about this film, and they are insignificant.
Which leads us to the good news. The scenery in this movie was spectactular. No other movie captures such a breathtaking view of landscape than this one. Although the characters are not as fleshed out as they could be, the directing of this movie, as well as its special effects, are outstanding. It is not as dark as what I envisioned in the Tolkien novels, but it nonetheless creates a movie that screams "Fantasy Adventure!" This is the epitome of what a fantasy film should be. The battles are quite intense, albeit a tad gruesome at times. The sets they used are unparalleled. The literally built a real Hobbiton from the ground up. The Prancing Pony Inn is done extremely well, as is Moria. Its Biblical themes that bubble up from the author's Christian faith create an excellent sub-conscious plot engine, although it was never meant to be a "Christian" story.
This movie is just about everything it could have been. It had to grow on me after a while, but when it did I was all over it. It's the non-stop adventure we've been looking for, whose sweeping high adventure may never be equalled again. And to think we still have two more movies to go. ;) 7/10.