We have been meaning to write about these films ever since we started this blog. We have an unpopular opinion when it comes to Peter Jackson's rendition of this masterpiece of a novel. A myriad of people would cite these films to be among their favourites and might even claim that they are the best film trilogy ever made. We might ruffle some feathers here. You have been warned.
First of all, we would just like to say (before anyone crucifies us) that we're not such puritans that we can't handle any deviation from the source material. We've been around the block enough to understand that books and movies use a different language. Some things in books need a fundamental change in order to work on screen. All of the adaptations of books we love to film have done that, successfully so. That is why we like them. However, we don't comprehend the argument that you should always separate the book from the movie. When it was announced that these movies were going to be made, which fan of the books would have gone in with zero expectations and thinking that this is probably not going to be like the books that I worship at all? Particularly when the books are so universally loved and famous, plus this is the first time they have properly been adapted, one would expect more faithfulness. Especially towards the characters. Anyway, we'll return to the whining and bitching when writing about the next two movies.
Also, if you haven't noticed by now, we tend to be rather obsessive about things we like. Other people have religion and politics, we have entertainment.
Watching the first again, we have to backtrack most of our previous disdain and criticism of this one. It's a pretty damn good adaptation and a well executed piece of cinema. We have quibbles and we'll get to them later, but all in all, as a whole it works. This will be the shortest "review" of the three as we actually enjoy the film. Let's just do the simple pros and cons.
Pros: Number one has to be Viggo. The man was born to play Aragorn. His character is definitely at his best in The Fellowship and every choice they made with his character works in the film. We don't take issue with the casting and most of them are really good. The exteriors: the costumes, the sets, the locations, music - all of them are amazing and breathtaking. Even some of the outdated CGI doesn't bother us as much as it used to. That is because the story is held together very well and manages to stay coherent. They chose the correct parts to cut from the book that wouldn't have translated well to the screen or that didn't have relevance to the main storyline. Neither the story nor the characters are fundamentally different from the book. There are changes and some of them do bother us, but for the most part the changes were for the better both character and storywise. We especially appreciated that they took more of the Lúthien approach (who is truly one of the few better female characters from Tolkien) to Arwen's character.
Cons: The major one has to be some of the changes in Frodo's character. Most of it has to do with what we call Ring porn. It isn't as bad in this one as it is in the subsequent films, though. He's less mature and knowledgeable than he's supposed to be. That renders him more helpless than we as viewers like. In the book Frodo is resolute and resourceful. Here he has no effect on anything, literally the only thing he gets to decide is to carry the Ring. It's not a huge impediment to liking his character or enjoying the film. Yet. Couple of grumbles about Arwen. The drawing of the sword, which is not a problem in and of itself. It is made completely obsolete and feels like a slap in the face because of what follows in the next two movies. We do have to nitpick, why the hell would you draw a sword in the first place when you have magic that can sweep away your enemies in an instant? The one that annoys us the most is but a moment. It's that demure and deferential look that she has when the fellowship is departing. You are an ancient being with infinite wisdom. What the fuck are you acting like a shy school girl for? It is truly the beginning of her infantilization. The few brief moments of Hollywood sentimentality, which are completely out of place in Tolkien's world, are just that, brief (for now).
Unfortunately, the sequels don't live up to the setup. All of the factors that work here are almost completely undone in the next two. More to follow...
First of all, we would just like to say (before anyone crucifies us) that we're not such puritans that we can't handle any deviation from the source material. We've been around the block enough to understand that books and movies use a different language. Some things in books need a fundamental change in order to work on screen. All of the adaptations of books we love to film have done that, successfully so. That is why we like them. However, we don't comprehend the argument that you should always separate the book from the movie. When it was announced that these movies were going to be made, which fan of the books would have gone in with zero expectations and thinking that this is probably not going to be like the books that I worship at all? Particularly when the books are so universally loved and famous, plus this is the first time they have properly been adapted, one would expect more faithfulness. Especially towards the characters. Anyway, we'll return to the whining and bitching when writing about the next two movies.
Also, if you haven't noticed by now, we tend to be rather obsessive about things we like. Other people have religion and politics, we have entertainment.
Watching the first again, we have to backtrack most of our previous disdain and criticism of this one. It's a pretty damn good adaptation and a well executed piece of cinema. We have quibbles and we'll get to them later, but all in all, as a whole it works. This will be the shortest "review" of the three as we actually enjoy the film. Let's just do the simple pros and cons.
Pros: Number one has to be Viggo. The man was born to play Aragorn. His character is definitely at his best in The Fellowship and every choice they made with his character works in the film. We don't take issue with the casting and most of them are really good. The exteriors: the costumes, the sets, the locations, music - all of them are amazing and breathtaking. Even some of the outdated CGI doesn't bother us as much as it used to. That is because the story is held together very well and manages to stay coherent. They chose the correct parts to cut from the book that wouldn't have translated well to the screen or that didn't have relevance to the main storyline. Neither the story nor the characters are fundamentally different from the book. There are changes and some of them do bother us, but for the most part the changes were for the better both character and storywise. We especially appreciated that they took more of the Lúthien approach (who is truly one of the few better female characters from Tolkien) to Arwen's character.
Cons: The major one has to be some of the changes in Frodo's character. Most of it has to do with what we call Ring porn. It isn't as bad in this one as it is in the subsequent films, though. He's less mature and knowledgeable than he's supposed to be. That renders him more helpless than we as viewers like. In the book Frodo is resolute and resourceful. Here he has no effect on anything, literally the only thing he gets to decide is to carry the Ring. It's not a huge impediment to liking his character or enjoying the film. Yet. Couple of grumbles about Arwen. The drawing of the sword, which is not a problem in and of itself. It is made completely obsolete and feels like a slap in the face because of what follows in the next two movies. We do have to nitpick, why the hell would you draw a sword in the first place when you have magic that can sweep away your enemies in an instant? The one that annoys us the most is but a moment. It's that demure and deferential look that she has when the fellowship is departing. You are an ancient being with infinite wisdom. What the fuck are you acting like a shy school girl for? It is truly the beginning of her infantilization. The few brief moments of Hollywood sentimentality, which are completely out of place in Tolkien's world, are just that, brief (for now).
Unfortunately, the sequels don't live up to the setup. All of the factors that work here are almost completely undone in the next two. More to follow...
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