Easy to admire, but flawed

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2002)

Fellowship of the Ring is a sincerely-crafted fantasy that benefits from earnest performances, beautiful scenery, and an epic scope. But the movie suffers from problems with pacing and focus, and a lack of movie "magic". FOTR is packed to the gills with story, at the expense of getting on with the story. Every scene was expertly crafted, but the sense of urgency in the action of most scenes ran counter to the urgency of the movie to move forward. The journey the Fellowship is on travels one place, then another, then another, then another, then another, etc. It becomes as tedious and exhausting to watch as that last sentence was to read. This also applies to the action scenes. There are so many of a similar nature, they begin to lose their impact. Finally, though sincerely played, I never felt endeared to the characters to care enough about their fates.
I have a feeling that this movie would play much better as a mini-series. But don't misunderstand my overall impression of the movie. I felt the need to address these flaws due to what I feel is the hyperbolic gushing of Trilogy fans, but I did like and respect this movie. It is in no way one of the top 50 movies of all time, but is certainly one of the 10 best this year. I give it 8 out of 10.