Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A band of unlikely heroes must travel across their world in order to destroy a powerful ring containing the spirit of an evil, super being.
Review: Let us now go into one of the best trilogies in film history with the adaptation of the epic novel "The Lord of the Rings." Unfortunately, I still have never read the book, but it is high on my list of things to do before I die! I'll begin by saying the order I like the films are "The Return of the King" as best, this one as second best, and "The Two Towers" last. This film begins with a little backstory to what is going on in Middle-earth and an amazing battle sequence which makes me wish they had a movie based off the original fight against Sauron. Something you will notice throughout this trilogy are the great effects that have a gritty and worn out look to them; you get the feeling that this is brutal world and they don't hit the showers often if you know what I mean! From here we learn about the One Ring and how it came to be in the hands of a Hobbit named Bilbo which then leads to our current story. Early on you will find yourself quickly immersed into the mythos of this world which helps make the story much easier to follow. As the Hobbits are an innocent race of little people with little to no desires, the One Ring is mostly safe in their possession as it cannot influence them easily. Unfortunately for Bilbo and our other Hobbit heroes, the forces of Sauron have learned of the rings location and the ring is sent off to a place called Rivendell which is a city of Elves. It is also at this time we learn a powerful wizard named Saruman has joined the fray to find the ring as he has been corrupted by the evil of Sauron. We are gradually introduced to each of the main characters with a steady pacing which definitely helps the audience with taking a chance to meet everyone rather than being bombarded by names (it can still feel overwhelming at first anyway!). Eventually we see our fellowship come together as they realize the One Ring must be destroyed in the place it was forged: Mount Doom in Mordor. I really love the fellowship as most of the characters are fun and interesting and pretty damn good fighters. The fellowship is comprised of the four Hobbits: Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin (Merry and Pippin do borderline Jar Jar-like characters sometimes though!), the wizard Gandalf, Aragorn and Boromir who are men, Legolas the Elf, and Gimli the Dwarf. The vast majority of the film involves the nine heroes traveling across the treacherous landscape of Middle-earth running into one epic set piece obstacle after another; it is during these fights that we get a better sense for who our heroes are and how fun they can be. Always hot on the trail of the heroes are the ever intimidating Ring Wraiths (the Nazgul) which are my favorite; they look like grim reapers and are seemingly immortal as long as the One Ring exists. Of course the main battle in the Mines of Moria is the highlight of this film as the audience is led to believe Gandalf has been killed! The battle in the mines gives a chance for each of the heroes to show us what their made of and how even the little Hobbits can be courageous fighters. Everything comes to a head as the remaining fellowship finds themselves weary and corned by super Orcs called Uruk-Hai sent by Saruman. At the same time, Boromir has been corrupted by the temptation of the One Ring and this splits up the fellowship as Boromir is killed in the fight. The film ends with cliffhanger as our remaining heroes survive, but are now separated and left to continue the journey somehow while Merry and Pippin are captured by Orcs. Of course this leads directly into the next part! The effects are geat, the music is phenomenal (one of the best ever), the characters are beloved and great, the acting is solid, the story is well paced and engaging, and everything just comes together so excellently. My only real gripe with this part is the slowness at some parts which I do understand the book does show great detail of just "walking" the path, but as a movie, I felt even more could have been cut down or integrated a little better.
Notable Moment: When the fellowship runs into the Balrog and Gandalf stays to do battle with the beast.
Final Rating: 9.5/10
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