Very Very Well Done

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2011)

The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring is an achievement. There is no doubt about that. The beautiful sweeping shots of the perfectly captured (from the book) landscapes to the brilliantly done hobbits and fantastic visual effects, it is impressive.
However, it is not without it's flaws. It is, at the end of the day, too long. Some scenes are just not necessary (the random 'lady of the woods' scene comes to mind) and I can't see why they weren't cut from the final edit. Other problems include Orlando Bloom, who always looks as if he's about to start laughing throughout the film, and Gimley, who's lines desperately try to inject humour but badly and in all the wrong places. Also I'm struggling to see why Gimley is even there, as he always seems to be more of a hindrance than a help.
However, these things do not bring this movie down far enough to be any less than excellent. Sir Ian McKellen is a good Gandalf, wise, knowing and suitably grey. The visual effects are stunning even today, and as I say the hobbits are extremely well done, as how they look so much smaller than everyone else. Sean Bean is brilliant as the good, but weak minded Boromir and does, in my opinion, the best performance in the whole trilogy.
But the best thing about this film is the direction. The fight scenes are well orchestrated, with sword shwinging and axe flinging all round, but not in a distasteful way. The landscapes are beautiful, the jaw- dropping shots of characters galloping across huge open planes on horseback are outstanding and the orcs are definitely gruesome enough to deserve more than a PG rating (in my opinion). The scenes with the baddies are dark, the scenes with the goodies are noble, and the overall feel of Middle Earth is achieved well thanks to Peter Jackson's direction and Andrew Lesnie's cinematography.
Overall, it is certainly an excellent film, even if it is not perfect, and I hold it as the best LOTR of the trilogy. Watch it.
8/10