warning: a very bad movie!

Rating: 3/10 (19 December 2001)

This is not a good movie. I actually went to see a midnight showing based on the positive reviews here, but I urge you not to believe them. I'm convinced these people never saw the movie.
I should mention that I've devoured the books many times and as an avid fan, can't really separate my judgement of the movie from my judgement of what the books deserve.
That said, I really didn't like the movie. It was never really real - you're totally separated from the reality by a thick layer of bad CG special effects. I know good special effects cost money, but a few really good ones would go a lot farther with me than constant terrible ones. It's sadly ironic because one of the greatest strengths of the books is their consuming feeling of real historicity.
There were a lot of jerky cuts that made me wonder if the projectionist made really bad splices (perhaps he did). There was a very gothic creepy aura at times - at a couple of points I was almost certain this would turn into a horror movie. There were lingering 10-second shots of the ring every 20 minutes or so, and it grew incredibly annoying.
I question the casting. Frodo is too young, Gandalf too feeble, Sam too stupid. I question some of the plot changes. I expected and even enjoyed some, but others I think are needless and remove something from the story. There are enough minor line and plot changes around Frodo to really change his character - the *main* character of the story! Maybe they're trying to develop his character more slowly across the 3 movies, but they sort of muddle the main theme in the process. I also think some of the changes would confuse viewers who hadn't read the books.
The settings were too cartoonish for my taste. Visuals and music seemed to be borrowed from computer games: Diablo, Myst, Heroes of Might and Magic.
The timing and sense of this movie is all off to me. It feels a mishmash of big-budget fantasy pic with generous portions of sci-fi and horror B-movies. I think the feeling of a road-movie, a war movie, or maybe even a buddy movie would be a lot more fitting to the material.
The acting is okay. Ian McKellen has the best lines and does well with them but doesn't seem up to the range of the Gandalf character, who changes a lot with his surroundings and his necessity. I'd rather see him as Saruman and Christopher Lee as Gandalf. Legolas is spot-on. Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett do what they can with a creepy interpretation of female elves. Gimli looks ridiculous and the hobbits all seem wrong with their feet like clown shoes and their pointed ears and their clownish, childish antics. Viggo Mortensen to my happy surprise, is really the best of the lot. He is a perfect Strider. I would have walked out pretty early on if not for he, I think.