I got a chance to see the new Ang Lee movie “Life of Pi” the
other day. It’s a movie shot using the state of the art 3D technology that was
first seen in the movie “Avatar”. This is the third movie to come out that has
used that technology with one the next one “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”,
the first in a trilogy, due to be released on the 14th of December.
So I thought to myself “Should I do a review of Avatar? It would fit perfectly
with the 3D theme. Or should I review “The Lord of the Rings”? It would fit
perfectly with “The Hobbit” theme. Well “Avatar would take me 3 parts to review
it because of how massive it is in achievements and how much I like it, but
then again “The Lord of the Rings” would take 3 parts as well for the same
reasons and also because the project itself was released theatrically as 3
movies” So I flipped a coin and it said I should do “The Lord of the Rings”.
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote many fantasy stories decades ago the
most famous of them being “The Lord of the Rings”. The first volume of the book
was named “The Fellowship of the Ring” and the film based on that volume stays
relatively faithful to the source according to many fans. I myself having not
read the book cannot compare it to the film but I can say that the film is damn
good. A monumental achievement in filmmaking, Peter Jackson the director
plunges us deeply into the heart of middle earth and tells us the story that
every cinema lover deserves to see.
The story is that a mysterious golden ring contains the soul
of a dark lord that once ruled middle earth. The protagonist Frodo Baggins
takes on the task of traveling to mount doom, the place where the ring was
created, and throw it into the fire to destroy it. This first film focuses on
the first leg of the journey as Frodo is accompanied by a group of people that have
sworn to help Frodo make it to the end; the fellowship of the ring.
The sets are amazing, the cinematography is near perfect,
the music is haunting and beyond comparison, the special effects dazzle and
amaze, and the acting is great all around. But Peter Jackson knows that in the
end all of those can only make a movie so good because the source material
needs none of them. So he makes the story so intriguing that in the end you won’t
even remember how good the special effects were.
One particular scene that I love involves these wraith-like
hunters that are after the ring. They look like cloaked demons with swords and
they are truly terrifying with their gothic appearance and screeching howls. In
the scene about 5 of them corner Frodo and his friends and slowly approach like
nightmarish apparitions. A friendly ranger comes to their aid and a battle
ensues which provides one of the most entertaining scenes in the trilogy. The scene
is staged so well it sets the mood for the rest of the movie since it comes
fairly early on. Of course by early on I mean in proportion to the length of
the movie and the trilogy because it is at least 40 minutes into the movie. But
brevity in this film, or in the whole trilogy for that matter, is virtually nonexistent;
something that would be bad in any other film but compliments this one because
of its scale and voluminosity.
The ending leaves you wanting more in the best way possible.
It is clear from this one and the ending of its sequel that these 3 films are
just volumes of one large film because they both end leading into the next. One
of the last lines of the film really gets you pumped up and exited to see the
next and that line is “Lets hunt some orc!” The line leads perfectly into the
sequel and is so empowering that you just have to watch the next movie
immediately after, or at least within 24 hours, because 3 hours plus 3 hours is
pushing it a bit even for someone who has nothing to do all day.
10/10
This is just part one. Tomorrow you get “The Two Towers” and
the “The Return of the King” the day after. Tell me are you excited about “The
Hobbit”?
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