Frodo Lives on the Silver Screen! or: One Film to Rule Them All

Despite all the other crap that was released in the theaters this year, it certainly has been quite a year for fantasy films, a genre which seems to have dried up some time ago. First, we were given a cinematic reproduction of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. But while Potter was certainly a worthwhile translation of the book and made a solid, entertaining movie, the film's hammed-up performances and lack of drama, suspence and humor made immersion next to impossible-the special effects wound up telling the story, and you never forgot that you were watching a movie.

Now we have an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings making the fantasy knockout punch, and does it ever meet the ridiculously high expectations that the audiences, Tolkien's fans in particular, had for it. It even surpasses them, correcting the problems that Potter's execution had. But most importantly, it leaves you with the feeling that you just saw something special, something that will stay with you for years to come. I would like to go on record right now and say that this is the best film I have had the pleasure of reviewing since I joined Epinions.

Lord of the Rings is a spectacle to behold, for sure. Like Potter, it produces incredible visual effects, from the fireworks display in the beginning to the end, when the fellowship passes through a narrow canal with two giant statues of warriors as the walls. Unlike Potter, though, Lord of the Rings actually lets the visuals take a step back sometimes to let the characters tell the story, and the result is a wholly immersive experience that drags you in kicking and screaming at the beginning and doesn't let go until it's done.

It starts out by giving us a quick history of the One Ring, from it's creation by the dark king Sauron to it's journey into the unwitting hands of Bilbo Baggins. From there, we are whisked off to the town of Hobbiton some 60 years later, when Bilbo is about to have his "eleventy-first" birthday party. While at the party, Bilbo pulls a dissapearing act as a joke, using the power of the One Ring to turn invisible and quickly run back to his hole. After deciding to really go off on a journey somewhere to finish a book that he's working on, he leaves the ring behind, bequeathing his hole and everything inside it-One Ring included-to his nephew Frodo. In one of the smartest casting moves Hollywood has ever used, saucer-eyed actor Elijah Wood plays Frodo, completely unsuspecting of the mysterious ring that he inherited. Wood plays Frodo pitch perfect, using an accent and those giant eyes of his to full effect, and he is painfully believable as we watch him turn from the happy little hobbit to a character who is too scared to go on, but knows he has to because all the good in middle-earth rests on him.

So Frodo sets out, his friend Sam (Sean Astin) in tow, to destroy the ring, and the special effects and spectacular scenery (shot in New Zealand) kick into overdrive. We watch on the edge of our seats and fingernails in our mouths as Frodo, Sam and late additions Merry and Pippin are hunted down by a Ringwraith, a dark creature in a hood that is niether dead nor alive. The Ringwraiths in the film are truly terrifying. They are these massive cloaks with seemingly nothing under the hoods, and their horses add to the terror that they bring, as they let out whinnies that fill the night. We watch with excitment when Gandalf escapes from his prison, we resist the temptation to yell out war cries at the screen as the fellowship is attacked by orcs. And some of us may even cry at the fall of Gandalf. These scenes are all spectacular because they successfully combine visual artwork with the emotional impact brought to the characters by the brilliant cast.

Ah, the cast. Enough good things have been said about them on this website already to fill several books, but it still doesn't do them justice. But since time prevents me from rambling on about every one of them, I can only mention a few of my favorites. Elijah Wood plays Frodo, and I mentioned him a couple of paragraphs ago, so there's no need to mention him again. Aside from him, the most important character is the great wizard Gandalf, played by the legendary Ian McKellan, who plays his character with turns that are both comic and tragic, stealing many of the scenes he's in, yet never going out of character to go either way. The underrated Viggo Mortenson plays Aragorn the Ranger, aka Strider, with a mystique that somehow comes off as warm and friendly. Hopefully, this film will be Mortenson's breakout role, and maybe he will even recieve an Oscar nomination for it. Another underrated actor, John Rhys-Davies (you may know him from Raiders of the Lost Ark or as Arturo on the TV series Sliders), plays Gimli, loud, booming voice dominating his performance. And Liv Tyler deserves special mention for proving that she can act if she wants to, portraying Arwen with a flawless accent, even speaking elf convincingly. The chemistry between the cast members perfectly reflects the tight friendship of the fellowship, as they often go out of their way to protect one another.

Tolkien fans can be assured that all the essential ingrediants that made the books so memorable are all in here, but one thing might still bug them-the complete absence of the character Tom Bombadil, the merry, magical song singing friend of the hobbits who has been around since the beginning of time, and whose powerful magic songs rescue the hobbits on more than one occasion. In fact, the whole section involving the living forest was cut out due to time constraints. But this is not something that should be dwelled on (I didn't), as dwelling on it may keep you in the theater while everyone else is there in middle-earth, laughing at the antics of Merry and Pippin or chearing on Aragorn as he fights an orc leader.

Lord of the Rings was a masterpiece of fantasy as a book, and it is now a masterpiece of fantasy as a movie. Every detail of the book has been replicated so well, it's like the filmmakers opened up your head, pulled out all the images right down to the smallest, most insignificant detail, and ssplashed them all over the silver screen. It is magnificent, and you would be nuts to wait for it to come out on video. You can bet that when the second part is released in the theaters this December, I will be there.

Recommended:
Yes