Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (***1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Peter Jackson moves farther and farther away from the possibility of making "Meet the Feebles 2" with every dollar he makes on this trilogy. No more gross-out puppet flicks for him, thanks. He’s off to do high-brow literary adaptations. Well, I’m glad he did, because he’s a fine filmmaker, and he’s made a fine film.

Now, I must admit, I haven’t read the books and I actually didn’t care if I saw the movie or not. That’s why I hadn’t until now (mid-May). Well, I’m glad I did, because it’s a fine film. I wasn’t excited before, but now I am. By the end, I was ready for the second one to come out. I’m pumped. No more indifference for me.

The beginning was slow (like the books, I hear). However, there were enough loud noises and eye candies that I was able to keep my eyes open. When we got to the overly-long party scene, I was ready for the long haul. And what a haul it was. Seeing the film as tired as I was probably didn’t help, but I was counting each hour going by.

Now, I’m not saying I didn’t like the film. I did, thoroughly. I just felt like the journey the group took was done in real-time. One man to write them all. Three men to write the films. One man to direct them all. Hundreds of men to act and crew. The one man writing force, of course, is J.R.R. Tolkien. The three screenwriters (one for each hour) were Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson (who also directed). Now, I’m not going to mention all the cast and crew and make comments about them, however I should mention that they all did a good job and I’ll see them later this year.

One more complaint I must make is in regards to computer-generated people. I know I’ve already said this with "Spiderman," but it warrants repeating. I hate it. The technology, while good, is not great. Movements still look too unnatural. I know it’s too late for "LoTR," but please avoid it wherever possible. Get a guy in a suit for the big ogre and green screen him in. It’ll look better, I promise. You just can’t capture the subtleties with a computer. If you can tell it’s computer generated, then it’s not a very good special effect.

Aside from all the fake people, the battle scenes were great. They were fun to watch and really helped me get into the movie. With that said, I think I’ve covered all the bases I want to cover. Just remember, this December brings us "Episode II: Attack of the Rings"…or "The Two Towers" whichever they like better.

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