What's all the mass hysteria about?

Rating: 6/10 (4 November 2004)

I'm probably one of the few, if not the only one, but I really asked myself what it is that everybody likes so much about this movie. I mean, visually it is OK, but any other movie that would rely so much on nothing else but its special effects would just be crushed by all the critics. Before you want to make me suffer because of my "blasphemy", I want you to listen to what I have to say. After you've read it you can still quarter me and burn my remains as much as you like. Hahahahahaha.
I never judge before I've seen a movie with my own eyes. It's too easy to say that you love or hate something, just because everybody else says it is great or awful, without actually seeing it. When I watch a movie I always start with 7/10 as the final score. Is it a very good movie, my rating will go up, is it a bad one, my rating will fall. Very fair I would think, no?
Well, I saw The Fellowship of The Ring and it certainly had some great scenes, but overall I wasn't convinced by it. Don't you think that the story line (the battle between good and evil) is a little bit too thin? I know it is very popular since 9/11 and everybody needs his heroes, but this kind of thinking is just too black and white. Look at the battle scenes: the bad guys (I don't remember all their names, but that doesn't matter) attack with hundreds, even thousands, yet our 9 dear friends know to kill them all without suffering too much losses themselves (at the end of the movie only two were killed). Doesn't anybody ask himself questions than? I think they would have been killed by the first attack, end of the movie, now let's go home!
Second reason why I didn't really like the movie: Often I was thinking "But what are they actually talking about????" Too often I got to hear so many weird names of places and people, making it impossible to stay focused. I'm not saying they had to be called John and Bill on their way to Washington and New York, but names like 'Idoknowhereiamrightnowbutijustdontwanttotellyouia' certainly don't help.
Third reason why I think this wasn't the best movie I've ever seen: the duration of the movie. I don't mind watching a movie for three, four hours, but at least it has to have a good pace. The first 1.5 to 2 hours were so slow, I sometimes had the feeling I would fall asleep. If I were the editor of this movie, I would have cut it in half. Thirty minutes to get to know the different characters and the reason why they start their journey, another hour for the journey itself. There would still be plenty of time to show all the beautiful landscapes, the many battles with the different evil creatures,...
And yet, I have some good critics too. I have to admit that, even though the story isn't much too my taste, the movie had some nice features as well. For example: I loved those 9 ghosts on their black horses. I really think they looked cool. Same for the special effects. The demon the magician had to fight just before his death, or the water in the form of horses that flooded the 9 horsemen were absolutely astonishing and great to watch. But as I said at the start of this review, it just isn't enough to save the movie.
As a conclusion I want to say that the real heroes in this movie were the magnificent landscapes, the marvelous special effects, but that they can't save the lack of a good story and characters I can identify myself with. But I'm in a generous mood today and I give this movie a 6/10. Now come up with your matches and lighters...