Boo.

Rating: 3/10 (25 May 2002)

what a boring movie.
i was warned it's not for people who haven't read the books -- and have no interest ever doing so. i should have heeded those warnings.
i was grateful enough to run into Elijah Wood not once, but twice, a few months before this unfortunate movie (video game?) came out. we chatted both times, and he was such a cool guy and i was so charmed by him that when I realized he was starring in this, i rushed to see it.
i wish i could see him again to ask him what he thought of the script.
the good: Elijah Wood (vastly underrated as an actor; he carried this), Ian McKellan (i have long suspected and am now convinced that he can play any role, in any movie), production value, and Gollum (just as i imagined, so creepy!)
the bad: i could go on for a while. i'm still p***ed they didnt do the hobbit in live-action. its the only one i read, and i thought (im clueless) thats what this was. aside from that personal problem...where was the plot? i mean god. how many times did we have to watch the same scene...fix, six? gandalf waxing poetic about the evil (insert place) of so-so inhabited by the terrible (insert obstacle0 so-and-so. its like watching dungeons and dragons, except they never die and have to start over.
and come on, the "special" effects. was it supposed to look like a computer drawing? that really ruined it, unless thats what they were going for...? plus, i dont get what the fairies had to do with anything (although liv tyler is really cute), and i really wish the movie had an actual ending.

and i know its a fantasy, but how can they defeat all those things over and over again where thousands before them have failed? and if the ring is actually that powerful, why do i care about them anyway? if theyre invincible, it works, but theres no story. and if theyre not...then they shoulda died. but, whatever.
i guess you either have to be in the mood, or be a lord of the rings fanatic. my aunt, one such fanatic, keeps telling me that the 2nd book was the best, so im hoping it will live up. it was nice seeing my acquaintance-in-passing elijah onscreen. but id rather have been playing zelda or even mario brothers. i hope the next one has an actual story. i'm certainly not paying 12 dollars for a IMAX ticket again though.