One word, epic!

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2015)

High fantasy quite often when done in film just comes off as epic, and this little gem is no exception. I really shouldn't have used the word little because this is the complete opposite, the scale is huge, the adventure is huge and to be fair some of the creatures in this are huge. Fellowship of the Ring is of course based on the work of J. R. R Tolkien of the same named book and is one movie that is quite obviously popular among those who have read the book, adding to the fact this film is obviously fantastic. I don't feel this is quite absolute perfection but in any case it is a sublime piece of work and one that few would doubt is one of the very best still in the fantasy genre of films.
Peter Jackson brings us his view on this quest and he does a fine fine job with guiding us through this story with a scope never seen before this came out. The thing about this that I feel captures so many peoples interest is the way in which it is just genuinely good fun and never goes too dark or too serious, it has moments of light hearted fun and even the odd time when you get a laugh out, splendid stuff. Jackson alongside Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh adapts a script that breathes what a movie like this should be done like, it gets the very most out of the action done in it and blends with the effects in a way where you don't get sick of the CGI or feel this is too fake, it turns out beautiful. The look this movie is given is also one major thing to mention about this just in the way the sets and the locations and even the costumes are done, it vividly brings to life Middle-earth in a way where it doesn't matter if you have read the books beforehand or after or ever, the movie is itself a work of epic proportions.
Frodo Baggins is of course the central character of this and being played by Elijah Wood he comes across as brave in ways but also at times very vulnerable as well. If there is one stand out performance, well I wouldn't be able to pick, all the huge cast do a top notch job of bringing their respective characters to life and create these roles which they will forever be known for. One thing about casting I also really liked is the way in which the people behind this didn't go for massive names or try to even draw maybe just one massive name that would have ruined this, it feels better with a varied cast popularity wise.
This has one of the most engaging second halves I have seen and moves this movie up a little in terms of how I felt about it overall. The film I think also sets up the next two in the series really well, it shows us what might come next although never too much and that for me makes this a great link going into "The Two Towers". Peter Jackson a fan of the Tolkien's work brilliantly brings this storming onto the big screen and does so in a way that makes it very difficult to dislike, even those with an ardent dislike for the kind words used in this like Khazad-dûm will find it hard to not enjoy this movie, it is just too much fun and too much an epic movie. So yes overall The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is one movie that will go down in history as a game changer in terms of technical achievements and truly brought on a new era of usage regarding CGI. It goes down in many lists as one of the bests and although I can't say I felt this to be your 5 star, 10/10 kind of movie, it is still terrific in almost every single way.