A slow start to the trilogy,but has potential

Rating: 6/10 (26 August 2002)

I have never personally read the books or anything else by Tolkien,and as such I didn't have any expectations of the film one way or the other.But I could hardly avoid all the general hype that preceded it.Unfortunately in my opinion,it did not live up to it,not even close.The pace of the film was laboured throughout.Just when things looked like they were really going to get going,it just went off on another tangent.I think Elijah Wood is a decent enough young actor,but he did seem out of his depth in this role. And I'm glad that Liv Tyler only had a cameo role,because I really don't rate her too highly as an actress at all. Otherwise,I found the acting to be pretty competent.The British trio of Ian Mc Kellen,Ian Holm,and Christopher Lee were all excellent.Sean Bean too made the most of his part.My favourite performance though was from Viggo Mortensen.A really heroic part,well performed.He was no Han Solo,but for me his character was the highlight of the film.
It may be unfair to compare this film in any way to the Star Wars saga,but one of the things I remember about all the pre opening hype was that it was compared to it,and very favourably.But Star Wars was a phenomenon,the first true blockbuster.It has since become the yardstick to which every new potential blockbuster is compared to and not many,if any,have lived up to that.Even though Star Wars-Episode One had some major flaws,I still found it a much more exhilarating viewing experience than this movie.
But this is the first of a trilogy and the series should really be judged after every film has been released.It does look to have potential and hopefully this is the director staying as true as he can to the novels.It is an epic and you cannot cram everything into one movie.I'm looking tentatively forward to the next part of the series,hoping for a bit more pace to the film. 6 out of 10 from me for this one.