"Well, I Have Two Major Gripes with The Lord of the Rings...

The first is that I wasn't asked to be involved!"

Confessions of a Rabid Tolkienite

A month ago, I never would have thought that by the time we saw my uncle, whose love of Tolkien surpasses even that of my dad, during our Christmas travels, we would not have yet seen the movie which I had anticipated for three long years. I fully expected to be one of those ardent fans lining up outside the theater in a Gandalf costume hours before the first showing. But in the pre-Christmas crunch, we chose patience over fanaticism, and it was two weeks before I stepped into the theater and shared in the conviction of my uncle’s sentiment. A two-fold sentiment: I wish I’d been involved because it was so awesome; I wish I’d been involved because it could have been more awesome. Most Tolkien fans would probably agree.

My uncle flashed a list of grievances he had made during his second viewing of the film, and I believe that most Tolkien purists were compiling lists of their own, whether written or mental, of the most serious deviations from the book. And each list, no doubt, is different. So, keeping in mind the limited amount of time which necessitated many revisions and the impossibility of pleasing all Tolkien fans all the time, I have no reservation whatsoever in giving The Fellowship of the Ring my highest recommendation. My personal grievances are not enough to weigh this movie down.

Hobbiton: When Do I Move In?

Visually, the film could not have been better. I never realized how gorgeous New Zealand is. The Shire is exactly as I imagined it, as are Rivendell and Lothlorien. Sheer visual perfection, from the landscape to the architecture. The less than pleasant places are also impeccable, particularly Moria and the Khazad-dum bridge. I could scarcely keep my eyes on the screen without shuddering. The scenes of Frodo with the Ring on are particularly chilling and effective. Frodo’s mithril coat, the glow of the elves, the magnificent display of fireworks which Gandalf provided, the disgusting orcs and horrifying balrog, the blazing Eye of Sauron... I really don’t see how any of it could have been better. No complaints there.

Can They Pull it Off?

I was worried about the cast. It seems to me that when I first saw the pictures of the cast members on the website, Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) was about the only one who looked right. I guess the pictures didn’t do them justice. Not all of the characters looked exactly as I’d pictured them, but they all looked right, despite Frodo’s (Elijah Wood) initial appearance causing deja-vu and hearkening back to Wood’s younger days as Huck Finn. No worries, though; I forgot Huck as soon as Frodo started to speak. And, granted, I’d never pictured Pippin (Billy Boyd) with a Scottish brogue, but it suits him perfectly. Neither did I see hobbits as having pointy ears; did I miss that? I thought that was an elf thing. But it fit. Gandalf conveys power and vulnerability, wisdom and irritability, agelessness and mortality. Aragorn is moody and noble, Borimir well-meaning but weak, Galadriel regal and tortured. The cast is dead on.


Concerning Hobbits

I instantly fell in love with the adorable Pippin, the cheeky scamp who manages to upstage my beloved Sam in the film. The actor playing him nailed him. I get the feeling the director (Peter Jackson) wanted to milk him for all the comic relief he was worth, beginning with an incident involving Merry and fireworks purloined from Gandalf. This was definitely not in the book, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and I couldn’t begrudge the departure. Pippin is definitely the most visible of the three hobbit companions of Frodo. Merry is the least visible. He is Pippin’s companion and little else. More sensible than Pippin but still immature, his personality is about right; he just doesn’t get a whole lot of air time. Their joining up with Frodo is amusing and certainly efficient; it saves a great deal of time to have them stumble across him in Farmer Maggot’s cornfield as they’re stealing his crops. However, it doesn’t say a whole lot about their character. They’re troublemakers from the beginning, and their genuine concern for Frodo is far less evident at this juncture than in the book.

It is Sam (Sean Astin) that upsets me the most. I was more worried about him than anyone else. He is my favorite character in The Lord of the Rings, and it seemed to me that it would be very easy to screw him up. He’s the type of character who could be easily undervalued. And I’m afraid my fears were confirmed. It’s not Astin that bothers me. He did great with what he had to work with. But many of the book’s most emotional moments and lines of most brilliant dialogue involved Sam, and almost all of it was cut for the film. Sam does not dote on Frodo as he should; his contributions are minimal, his personality is smothered.

As soon as I saw Gandalf order Sam to join Frodo on the quest, I knew he would be a disappointment. He shows no inclination to follow Frodo and no excitement at the prospect of seeing elves. His adulation of the mystical beings is mentioned only once, in passing, by Frodo, when Sam tells him in Rivendell that he can’t wait to take off and go home. Wrong! All wrong! And they show Sam releasing Bill the pony outside Moria, but we never see him get Bill in the first place. There’s no mention of Bill Ferny, and Sam’s Radar-esque love of animals is almost entirely ignored. We also don’t know he’s a gardener, and we never hear about the Gaffer, Sam’s beloved father about whom he talks endlessly. He has no poetry, no funny sayings, and not enough depth of feeling. I can only hope that the next movie will make up for it; Frodo and Sam are all alone, so Pippin won’t be able to upstage him this time.

Okay, enough of my hobbit gripes. I can’t complain about Frodo. He’s perfect. My doubts departed very early on. Frodo’s youthfulness is replaced with grim determination, and though his burden is heavy, he never shies away from his duty for more than a moment. Wood’s intense eyes provide windows to Frodo’s soul on several occasions, displaying his struggle against the Ring and his deep concern for those he loves, particularly Bilbo (Sir Ian Holm) and Gandalf. Finally, Bilbo is a pure delight. We don’t get to see him much, which is as it should be, but when he’s around, he’s as charming and witty as the Bilbo I love. From doddering around Bag End trying to convince Gandalf to consume more than just tea to blowing smoke rings, from embracing Frodo to regaling bug-eyed toddlers with his adventures, Bilbo is exactly right. And he gets to say my favorite line of his in the trilogy: “I know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” Bravo!

Of Wizards and Men

Gandalf, as I said, is impeccable. I loved him in the beginning especially, reminiscing with Frodo and Bilbo, impressing the children with fireworks, bearing the disapproving glances of the gentry, bumbling about in the comparatively tiny Bag End, and laying down the law when certain hobbits get out of hand. We don’t have The Hobbit to compare him to here, but he conveys a sense of exhaustion which was not present upon his first meeting with Bilbo. He is the clear leader of the Fellowship immediately after Rivendell, and the Fellowship cannot survive long without him. But he is also cantankerous, cursing irritably to himself after hours of failed attempts to open the doors to Moria and withering Pippin with his rage after Pippin’s clumsiness gives away their position.

Saruman (Christopher Lee), too, is most effective. His part is more extensive than it ought to be at this point, but the scene of his betrayal of Gandalf is very impressive. He is calm, cool, and clearly in charge as he oversees the preparations for battle, which include developing Uruk-hai, a human-orc hybrid. Most of all he is cruel, turning his back on the good for which his white cloak stands and embracing the enemy.

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is appropriately dark and brooding. Choosing the life of a ranger over royalty, he is a loner but a leader, instrumental in getting the hobbits from Bree to Rivendell. I missed Frodo’s line at the Prancing Pony, when Aragorn introduces himself as Strider, that a friend of the Enemy would “look fairer and feel fouler” than Strider does. Their meeting is too brief to elicit the necessary trust in this mysterious stranger, especially since there is no letter from Gandalf to corroborate the story. All the same, Aragorn is an impressive figure essential to the Fellowship until the end of the film, when Jackson inexplicably decided to have Aragorn see Frodo leave and let him go. This is very much out of character, and it was the second major gripe my uncle had with the movie.

However, this does allow for a scene involving Borimir (Sean Bean) which does not occur in the book but is very moving. In fact, I prefer this part to the book, as I was never able to react appropriately to the comparable scene in the book. I could never bring myself to like Borimir enough to agree with my dad that his death was the saddest occurrence in the first half of the trilogy. Now I must read it again, with renewed determination to like Borimir. In the movie, it is easy to distrust Borimir and feel fond of him at the same time. His lust for the Ring is borne out of good intentions, and his affection for Merry and Pippin makes it very difficult to dislike him entirely.

Glimmering White and the One Dwarf

Ugh. What was that? The reason I don’t usually subtitle my reviews, I guess... Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) don’t get a whole lot of air time here, Legolas in particular. Both look exactly as I would have pictured them. The stocky dwarf Gimli hides behind an enormously bushy beard and speaks with a gruff Scottish accent. He wields an axe and is fiercely proud of his kinsmen who work in the mines of Moria. Legolas the elf is bright-eyed and slender with long golden hair. He is soft-spoken and gorgeous but deadly with a bow in hand. Both he and Gimli are eager warriors, but they clash because of their prejudices against one another. Though their rivalry contributes to a fistfight in Elrond’s council (not in the book), it doesn’t come to light very often. Their climactic moment of animosity in Lothlorien and ensuing friendship do not carry over to the screen, but I suspect they, too, are developed more fully during the second installment.

Arwen (Liv Tyler) and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) are very well done. Arwen’s role is bigger here than in the book; she scarcely makes an appearance in the book at all. But she’s only present in Rivendell, and I didn’t mind the increase in her role nearly as much as I thought I would. Besides, it gave me a chance to hear the Elven tongue properly spoken. Anyone who can do that has the nod of approval from me. Lady Galadriel is as ethereal as I had imagined, and her moment of trial with the Ring is terrifying but dead on. My only complaint here is that we didn’t get to see all of the characters’ reactions to her. Most missed is Sam’s, as his interaction with the Lady of the Wood and her mirror is nearly as revealing as Frodo’s. Lord Celeborn (Marton Csokas) looks right, if you’re quick enough to catch him. He’s on the screen for about five seconds. Elrond (Hugo Weaving) looks younger than I would have thought, but his somber face is just what I pictured.

Wrapping it Up...

Had enough? If you’re still with me, you’re probably ready to kill me. I guess I’m making up for lost time here. It’s my come-back review after an unpredictably impossible semester. I promise this isn’t a pattern. It’s just that I have so much to say about this movie, and if this is more in-depth than my review of the actual book, it’s because I have a basis for comparison now. The filmmakers changed a lot, and as a Tolkien devotee I’m going to notice that.

I’m going to note Galadriel’s ten minutes of exposition at the outset of the film, whereas the book began with the preparations for Bilbo’s party and dropped the history bit by bit along the way. I’m going to grumble that Gollum’s history in the film involves his always having been a slimy creature named Gollum, when it seems an important detail that he was originally a hobbit named Smeagol. I’m going to lament the loss of Fatty Bolger, Old Man Willow, and Tom Bombadil... nah, Tom we could do without. But they missed a lot of good stuff in the beginning. I’m going to pine away after Sam’s ballad of Tom and the troll, my favorite song in the book, despite the fact that its only real relevancy is to establish Sam as a poet. I’ll compile a list of grievances a mile long in one lobe of my brain, and in another I will stay riveted to a movie that actually manages to do justice to the finest piece of literature ever written. And when my dad says it just may be the best movie he’s ever seen in his life, I won’t be astonished to hear it.