Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) by Amanda C — 01 Oct 2017

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" released in 2001, is the beginning of the story of Frodo and his journey to destroy the ring of power that threatens Middle Earth. The movie makes me feel hopeful. As many moments as there were where the characters experience a lapse of judgment, such as Boromir coming after Frodo and trying to steal the ring just before the battle with the Orcs, Boromir proceeds to redeem himself by sacrificing his life for Merry and Pippin's, as well as declaring his loyalty to Aragorn as his king and their homeland of Gondor.

The movie made me think about how relatable these events and reactions are, as well as how there's a recurring theme between this movie and others like it. In one of the Harry Potter movies (I can't remember which one) Dumbledore says, "We must choose between what is easy and what is right." I feel that the altercation between Frodo and Boromir is an example of that. One thing I found to be particularly interesting was that the ring wraiths seem to fear the elements. This is shown when Aragorn fights them off with fire, and when Arwen sends the rushing water after them after she rescues Frodo to bring him to Rivendell for her father Elrond to save him.

I would have liked to see the special effects done differently. Specifically in the prologue scenes, there were moments where the effects stood out and didn't exactly feel to have cohesiveness within the scenes. I also would have liked to see slower dolly shots. Specifically in the scene where Gandalf and Frodo are talking about the ring and its powers, there were quite a few slow dolly shots used for suspense and reaction. I feel that they would have created even more suspense and a stronger reaction if they were slowed down even more, though maybe that's just the style that I'm used to seeing in films made for today's audience.