One of the most powerful (emotionally) movies this year...or maybe ever

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2001)

Most action movies I have seen (And I've seen some doozies) will brush aside plot and emotion in favor of stupid blow-em-up scenes that have no relevance to the actual storyline. Case in point-one of the most confusing, unemotional, and HORRIBLE movies of all time, THE AVENGERS, starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman. But this is not a review about that. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is, thankfully, not one of those movies. I would say that it is not about the special effects or the battle scenes (which, by the way, are incredibly realistic). It is all about, in the end, friendship and sticking by the ones you care about. I walked into this movie not ever reading the novels, however I do have a lot of knowledge about the plot. I saw HARRY POTTER and thought it was really great. But that was a movie for kids. Skip the hamburgers, I wanted some steak!! I knew that this was going to be very different from HARRY POTTER because it was directed at an older audience. I was right, in a very very good way. This movie is totally about the friendship and comradery between the hobbits and the rest of the fellowship. You see it when Frodo wakes up in Rivendell and Sam is right there and Gandalf tells Frodo that Sam hasn't left his side for more than a minute or two. You see it when Frodo is reunited with Bilbo at the land of the Elves. And you see it at the very end of the movie, when Merry and Pippin distract the orcs and ::SPOILER ALERT!!:: get captured themselves so Frodo can escape to the other side of the river. Okay, on to the actors. I've been hearing a lot of mixed reviews of Elijah Wood and his portrayal of Frodo Baggins. I might give a biased review because I have a HUGE crush on Elijah. But I have to say that he did an AMAZING job in this movie. He really gave a stellar performance. I think he's one of the finest actors in his age group. Him and Hayden Christensen are both amazing in what they do. Here, Elijah really brought the innocence and goodness of Frodo to life. The friendship and love between him and Sam Gamgee (played with a heartbreaking tenderness by Sean Astin) is really drawn into the light. I think the best shots of the movie are when the camera is drawn into Frodo's innocent face, full of skeptiscism and worry. Everyone keeps on talking about the eyes. To me, Elijahs' eyes are a wonderful acting tool. They are so big and blue that you can almost see into his mind. Okay, I'm getting off track LOL. I'm going to talk about someone else now. I LOVED Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey. And some reviewer was wrong. They DO mention "the Grey" in the Prancing Pony. He really did become Gandalf in this movie. He brings out the kindness and intensity that his character should have. Billy Boyd was wonderful as the comical Pippin, and Dominic Monahagn was great as the sort of "straight man" Merry. But there are some points where you can see the vulnerability that Pippin and Merry both show. Right after the little accident in the Mines of Moria (when Gandalf...you know, has that fall), you see Merry crying and holding a sobbing Pippin. Someone said that you never see them serious in the whole movie. That's a pretty damn good example RIGHT THERE. Liv Tyler was an extremely good surprise. She was very good as the elven princess, I didn't think she had the acting ability. Cate Blanchett was pretty freakin scary as Galadriel, but still, she did an amazing job. Orlando Bloom as Legolas was a great performance. I loved it when he took one of his own arrows, stabbed an orc with it, and then proceeded to take out the arrow from the orc's eye and then shoot down another orc with THE SAME ARROW. I thought that was really great!
However, on to the revisions and cuts. The only time you see Glorfindel in the first book was when he takes Frodo to Rivendell after he's injured. Peter Jackson did a surprising choice when he made Arwen do it, but then again, she doesn't really have a good role in the first book, and this expands the romantic angle a little bit. I loved it at the beginning when Frodo pushes Sam into Rose's arms when he gets too shy to ask her for a dance. The rest of the journey is really a growth period for them, too. The ending when Sam almost drowns trying to reach Frodo's boat is nothing short of heartbreaking. I cried, I have to admit.
All in all, a fantastic movie. I've seen it twice, and the first thought I had when the footage of Sam and Frodo trudging to Mordor faded was, "When can I find the time to see this movie again?"