Jackson Blew It!!

Rating: 1/10 (9 April 2002)

First of all, to all the people who claim that this movie was a risk to make - WRONG. This film was always going to make it's money back due to the fans of the book. Even the ones who were appalled by the thought of their so called "masterpiece" being turned into a movie would have still paid to see it.
The LOTR fan base ensured that this was never going to be a box office failure. And it's that same fan base who have propelled FOTR to the top of the IMDB. I have friends who are LOTR fans and they gave it 10 out of 10 before they had even seen it!
That type of fanatasism means that this film can only really be fairly judged by people who haven't read the books. And as one of those people I have to say that Peter Jackson blew his chance and LOTR is a glorious failure.
For a movie to truly be considered "great" or a "classic" it has to trandscend it's genre. It has to appeal to all kinds of audiences. The way Star Wars is loved not just by sci-fi fans but fans of every genre from westerns to romantic movies. The way that The Wizard Of Oz is loved by fans of musicals and fans of fairytales. The Fellowship Of The Ring apeals to one group of people and that is the die-hard fan of the book. To the rest of us it's boring, cliched, idiotic, and pointless.
It's pointless because there is nothing in this movie that we haven't seen before. It's been done before and better by everyone from Tim Burton to Steven Spielberg. In fact some of the scenes in this movie remined me so much of Burtons Sleepy Hollow that you expect Jonny Depp to appear any second. Jackson rips off everyone and fails to stamp his own style on this story. It's like watching a selection of your favourite scenes from other movies being copied by an amature.
There are two real problems with the movie (three if you count Jacksons direction), the first is the plot. We are told within the first half hour what the story is. A group of characters have to take a magic ring to a special place to be destroyed. On the way they will face much danger. THAT'S IT!! You can leave after that because you already know what happens. There are NO twists, there is NO tension, and the character developement in non-existent. Once you are told the plot you have to sit through 2 and a half hours of dodgy effects and poorly directed action sequences until the end. That's if you stay awake.
The second major problem is that we don't really care what happens to the characters. The heros aren't likable and the villains aren't scary. None of the characters have any kind of charisma or appeal and there seems to be no point in some of them being there. There are a few jokes thrown in (which aren't funny and make you cringe) and a little hint of romance between some of the characters. But even that feels like it's been thrown in at the last minute by the studio. A perfect example of how boring the characters are is in the way Jackson gives us a big close-up of the ring every 5 minute. Why? Is it to remind us why the character are there? Is it to stop us falling asleep?
It doesn't work and neither does the film. 2 out of 10