A film for readers, not for film-addicts!

Rating: 6/10 (15 April 2002)

I had not read the trilogy before watching the movie, which I deeply regret (because now I'll never be able to take E. Wood's face out of Frodo). But I'm not very fond of fantasy stories since I was ten. So I went to the theater feeling curiosity but expecting nothing specially exciting. And what I found was a poorly directed movie with poor and too noticeable computer effects. Lack of suspense, less locations that this high budget production should have (replaced with computer-made landscapes, like the disturbing fake Rivendel), lack of female strong characters (for which we should blame Tolkien, though) and the film taking too much to get nowhere (for those who hadn't read the books, the film ends almost where it starts).
However I must say that it struck the reader that lives inside me and made me rush to the bookstore. It was good enough to make me want to read the trilogy. I was sure that the books would be far better than the film. And I was right. Though it's not my favorite genre I must thank the movie for leading me to the books.
One more complaint about the FX quality. The size of the hobbits seems to change depending on the camera position. On general shots, half a man. Close shots, hardly smaller than men and definitively taller than dwarves! This incredible mistake kept disconnecting me from the story. Come on, this has been made before. Hadn't the producers ever seen "Willow", for example?!? Hadn't they heard about chroma-keys?!? This film won't be mentioned in film-making history for it's quality but for it's box office all around the world.
There's still a chance to make a much better translation of those books into film, maybe within the next few decades! I hope I can see it!