Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid

Rating: 3/10 (6 December 2003)

Whilst I will admit that fantasy is not my favourite genre, I was still prepared to give the first of the Lord of the Rings a chance and was actually looking forward to seeing it. Indeed, I even wanted to like it but at the end of the day, I found it dull. Before writing this review, I took a second chance to look at the movie to give it a second chance. Once again, it failed to capture my imagination.
Whilst the efforts of Peter Jackson in producing the three films at once is commendable - one should not overlook the problems inherent in this film. Some of the dialogue is hammy at best and conforms to the usual stereotypical "we're oh so worthy" film. Despite this, some of the acting is good, in particular that of Sir Ian McKellan and Ian Holm. However, by the same token, there is a reason that Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan will not be familiar to a lot of audiences.
Whilst the plotting of the film can be put down in part to Tolkein, what cannot be escaped is that the Fellowship's motivations for joining in the first place are not entirely clear, but their motivations are voiced and are therefore become entirely obvious without any character development - a consequence of their being no inner monologue which is not a fault of the film-makers. However, it is not particularly subtle.
Finally to the cinematography. The vistas of New Zealand are stunning but whilst much has been made of WETA's involvement, I found the CGI intrusive and some was just poor. However, it is also worth noting that the score is highly recognisable and sounds epic but like some of the effects is slightly intrusive and gets in the way of the dialogue at times.

Whilst I probably will get round to seeing the second one, not even the cliffhanger ending made me burn with desire to see it. To sum up, what irks me most is the lack of subtlty about it. Its attempted worthiness hits you like of sledgehammer and this is all the more pronounced and grating if you don't feel it.
In conclusion, a brave project that will appeal to people who revel in this type of film or the books but not for me. 3/10