An imperfection worth seeing.

Rating: Null/10 (19 December 2001)

It has been a slow development of late, but with films such as "The Matrix", "Eyes Wide Shut" and with the latest development of "LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring", the truth is evident: the EPIC is back.
And thankfully so. Many of us had long feared the destruction of the attention span, but now we have help in the form of the cinematic adaptation to the most important fantasy book series of all time. While I must admit that I am not an expert on the series, I will spare legions of fans from a shortsighted review of the series and focus on the film itself.
First and foremost, the story is very well done. The epic scope and the complexities of Tolkien's world are kept very much intact (save a few embellishments here and there), however, the film is damaged by an overlong opening narration that condenses the magnificent history into a montage. If spared until lull periods of the journey, the exposition could be much more effective and not feel so rushed. Considering that the film is unafraid to take its own time, the compression of the story seems unnecessary.
Secondly, the technical accomplishments are marvelous, although with reservation. While there are many beautiful shots (the computer-generated landscapes are SPECTACULAR) overall, the cinematography seems a bit unimaginative; the setups and the lighting, while appropriate for mood, diminish the detail of the sets, and take away from the extravagance of the production values. Perhaps a more depth-oriented approach like Kubrick or Tarkovsky would be more appealing (however, I must admit my own bias towards these two artists, and therefore, this is not an objective opinion). The accentuated highlights of certain scenes are beautiful, but the film suffers from a bit too much filtration, and the computer-generated traveling shots are quick and run-of-the-mill, framed and shot with all the care of a tight-budgeted weekly sci-fi television show, and not a mega-budgeted epoch.
All this notwithstanding, I have NO complaints about art design and set decoration, all of which are wonderfully detailed and expertly constructed. Not to mention the perspective effects created for the Hobbits in comparison to the others. I imagine that Tolkien himself would be proud.
It is also wonderful to see many great and favorite actors of mine (and many others) all together in the same film. It almost brings a tear to my eye to see Christopher Lee plucked out of the miserable Hammer film purgatory and into grade-A projects, where he belongs. It is also quite a treat to see Ian Holm and Ian McKellen, two of the best actors still living, work together with the skill and ease that only the Royal Shakespeare Academy could produce.
In closing, "LOTR: Fellowship" fails to completely enchant due to the perils of script condensation and subdued framing, however, it is anything but a failure overall. I enjoyed my time spent in front of the screen, watching this epic unfold, and I must say that, despite its flaws, the strengths of the film and the intention of the film to remain loyal to the source material make it, if nothing else, an overall success.