THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

By: SCOTT COLLURA
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Now that Peter Jackson's live-action epic THE LORD OF THE RINGS is finally herea feat thought more or less impossible to pull off only a few years agothe question can finally be answered. Does the film live up to the potential of J.R.R. Tolkien's revered trilogy of novels?

In a word, yes.

Visually, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is a stunner. The landscapes and environments of Middle-earth are fantastically realized, utilizing the handsome and diverse locations of New Zealand and the wonder of visual effects to transport us to the strange lands of The Shire, Rivendell, Moria and the rest of Tolkien's exotic locales. The various creatures and denizens of this world, too, are magically realizedall manner of Dwarves and Trolls and Elves and Hobbits are to be found here.

Ah, but what if you don't know what a Hobbit is? Don't let that bother you, for even those unfamiliar with THE LORD OF THE RINGS will have no problem jumping into Jackson's adaptation, a thrilling three-hour quest that is actually packed to the gills with enough exposition to satisfy the RINGS laymen out there, but not so much as to weigh the proceedings down. Anyway, FELLOWSHIP is only the first part of Tolkien's trilogy, and as such even the book version serves as the set-up for what is to come in the next two chapters (THE TWO TOWERS and THE RETURN OF THE KING).

But beyond the much-ballyhooed fancy production and the adored Tolkien novels on which it's based (and which, frankly, most of us barely remember from high school), what does this film offer? Interestingly, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is in many ways what fans were hoping for from THE PHANTOM MENACE some three years ago: a sweeping epic that, at its core, has truly memorable and heartfelt characters. Unlike the transparent PHANTOM MENACE, this film's battles and chases and magic and all the rest of it are, finally, secondary to its characters. And that's why it works.

The soul

of the film is Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a young Hobbit who finds that the fate of the world is literally in his hands, in the form of the One Ring, a powerful ring of legend that has through happenstanceand the passage of timefallen into the possession of the Baggins family. With the help of family friend and knowing wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Frodo learns of the ring's true power, as well as the fact that the dread dark lord Sauron is rising again after millennia to reclaim the ring, and hence the world. Only the pure-hearted Frodo can resist the temptation of the powerful ring and travel to the land of Mordor, the one place where the evil thing can finally be destroyed.

Once the quest is set up, the fellowship of the title is introduceda group of nine from various species across Middle-earth, pledged to protect Frodo and the ring. Predominant among them are Viggo Mortensen's heroic Aragorn and Sean Bean's equally heroic, if somewhat darker, Boromir. Three of Frodo's fellow Hobbits are along for the ride too, largely for comic relief at first, but eventually for heroics and finallyand most surprisinglya dose of true emotional resonance. Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett also pop in as a couple of Elves, and while their screen time is limited, even their moments in the spotlight prove satisfying.

Is the film perfect? Nahhh. For one thing, it runs overly long and at times feels too much like a series of setpieces simply strung together. And for all the visual splendor, sometimes the CGI effects just don't work as well as they're supposed tothough that is less a criticism of the film and more a comment on the state of visual effects in general.

It doesn't matter though, for THE LORD OF THE RINGS has more going for it than fancy visuals. It's an absorbing film, made by people who clearly love and respect the source materialand who understand why Tolkien's novels have flourished for all these years.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

Grade: A-

Reviewed Format: Wide Theatrical Release

Rated: PG-13

Stars: Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Marton Csokas, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood

Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien

Director: Peter Jackson

Distributor: New Line Cinema