Lord-y, Lord-y, look who's eleventy-one

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2002)

Define Hype. My definition? When, nine days after it's release, the Arklow cinema in Co. Wicklow (Ireland, for you uneducated swines) is FULL, cash register overflowing and people sitting in the aisles. Now, usually films with this much hype I find sickening, yet having read the books and seen the trailer, I had no choice but to go see it.
After hearing people say that it was only good for people who'd read the book I decide to bring along two guinea pigs who hadn't read the book (not litrelly guinea pigs, although their views might have been more interesting). When I say brought them, I mean they paid for themselves. Another problem some people feared was the fanatics with notebooks of maps and the like, but the only things I feared in Arklow was my feet getting stuck to the floor and that people wouldn't shout "What the F**K is a hobbit?" too loudly or often. Where was I? Oh yes, the film.
Story Okay, so I'm biased as I'm a fan of the book, but I think it's an intriguing if a little simplistic story. A brief outline: Rings are made to rule each empire. 9 rings for the men, 7 for the Dwarf-lords and 3 for the Elven-kings. Yet there is one ring which has far stronger powers, the ruling ring. This was made by Sauron himself, the Dark Lord.
The film starts off with a huge battle scen which sets the pace for the film. In this Sauron wears the ring, and is cutting through the troops like a knife through butter and seems invincible. However, one man manages to cut off the hand that bears the ring. He decides that he must keep this ring, yet it is soon lost and found again by a strange creature called Gollum. It then reaches the hand of Bilbo Baggins and this is where our story really begins.
The Shire is the home of the hobbit called Bilbo, and also his adopted heir Frodo. It is Bilbo's eleventy first (111th) birthday, a very old age indeed. However, at this party Bilbo dissapears forever and leaves the ring to Frodo. Yet Gandalf the wizard soon finds that this is the ruling ring, and of the terrible powers it possesses. Sauron is coming back to power, even though he has no physical presence, just in spirit (Voldermort, anyone?). He tells Frodo that dark powers are heading for the Shire with the name Baggins in mind searching for the lost ring and that he must leave and destroy the ring.
And that's where I'll leave it, at the basic story. Hope it wasn't too complicated. Anyway, on to...
Visuals What can I say? The setting is absolutely magnificent. Every landscape is meticulously created and everybody agreed they were stunning. Just for good measure every few minutes they would take a camera swirl and show us the beautifully crafted mountains or the huge statues. It is breathtaking. There's not much more I can say, except that Middle Earth looks far better than I ever imagined it could, and that was one thing I was very doubtful about.
As for the costumes, they were perfect. From the hobbit's round tummies and furry feet, to the perfectly straight white hair of the elves, it was immaculate. The orcs are terrifying, the elves are mystical and the hobbits are... well hobbits. Even the biggest Tolkien fan will find it hard to fault the intensive pursuit of perfection in the costumes. The best however was rerserved for what little we saw of Gollum. He is going to be seen more in the later films, and I can't wait. He is part-lizard, part-man kind of. Whatever he is, he's pretty scary.
As for the special effects, they are as you would expect from a film with a budget of this amount, incredible. I'm not going to spoil the film by telling you some of the moments it is used in, just trust me, it's excellent.
Sound I usually don't write about this in a film review, but I think it deserves a mention. The music is so atmospheric you can actually feel yourself drawn into the screen. As for the numerous battle scenes, the grunts from the orcs, the clashing of swords and the dark battle scene music made me duck for cover (which was slightly embarassing and meant that I had popcorn thrown at me for the rest of the film. A short mention, but a mention nonetheless.
Acting Hmm...my first complaint. Elijah Wood (Frodo) obviously knew he was picked for his wide-eyed, innocent look because that is all he does during the entire film. Orc going to kill me: wide-eyed look. Talking to a friend: wide-eyed look. Eating...etc. I felt his acting was wooden. Hold the phone... wooden? His acting was Wood-en! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! God I'm good.
I also felt Ian McKellen(Gandalf) could have shown more emotion at times, yet he at least has more range than Wood. Ian Holm (Bilbo) gave an excellent if brief performance, and I also thought Sean Astin (Sam) was good in parts. Besides that, the acting was average. Believable, but nothing to get worked up about.
Bits I disliked The fact that Frodo is about as heroic as a can of sardines. People keep saving his life and then telling him how brave he was. Yes, you truly are a king among hobbits. I also hated the way Frodo kept showing us the ring in the palm of his hand. We know you have it, there's no need to keep doing that. As I said Wood's acting is atrocious. They also left out the fact that Sam loves the elves and the scene where they meet them which I thought was a pity (not to go all fanatical on you). That's about it.
Layman's view The two people I brought with me felt that the story was boring in parts, there were too many battle scenes, too many different characters but they both agreed that the visuals were amazing. They said they would give it three stars, which isn't bad (they're very critical).
Overall Battle scenes are slightly long, and all the other bad bits I mentioned, but overall it is a solid film with stunning visuals, great atmosphere and a sturdy story. I liked it a lot, so five stars it is. Basically, if you've read the book it's worth a look, if not... I don't know, Harry Potter?