The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie review

Alright, guys, I know it's been awhile; I decided to take a week off for Thanksgiving because that was just a hectic week for me. But I'm back, and in honor of the Hobbit in all it's soon to be released glory, let's talk some Lord of the Rings.

Spoiler alert!

So, with the Hobbit coming out soon, but not soon enough, I figured this'd be a good way to prepped. So, The Fellowship of the Ring starts off with this big flashback about basically the history of Middle Earth. There was this guy Sauron, who was CRUSHING everyone else until eventually all the humans, elves, and dwarves teamed up to stop stop him. They do that-sort of. Only problem is that his ring survived, and his ring basically has his soul inside of it. Flash forward 3000 years, and we're in the Shire, home of the Hobbits. Specifically Bilbo Baggins, the current owner of the Ring, and his nephew Frodo, the main character of the movie.

Then one day Gandalf the Grey, who's basically the greatest wizard in the history of film (sorry Dumbledore, but Gandalf would kick your ass), comes to see his old friend Bilbo, who's celebrating his 111 birthday. It's at this point that we realize something that I personally love about the LOTR: it's ability to switch tones flawlessly. Let me explain: the first ten minutes, the flashback, are really epic and dark, and then we get to the Shire and it's...happy. Nostalgically happy even. That's something these movies do a lot (go from epic to sentimental to epic again on a dime), and you buy it, too. It's something  in these movies I think people don't talk about enough.

Anyway, so eventually Bilbo skips town, and the Ring (which turns you invisible when you put it on, I should've mentioned that earlier) is now in the hands of Frodo, and at Gandalf's advice, leaves town himself with the Ring. But his gardener, Samwise Gamgee (Rudy himself, Sean Astin), winds up coming along. We don't know it yet, but Sam is going to become the greatest sidekick in the history of film. Along the way they pick up two other hobbits, Pippin and Merry (played by Charlie from LOST!), as well as Aragorn.

Let's talk about Aragorn, shall we: he's the man. He was supposed to be king, but he gave all that up because he wanted nothing to do with it (and 'cause he wanted to shack up with elven Liv Tyler). He's played by Viggo Mortensen, and it's perfect.

Aragorn brings them to Rivendale, where they meet up with Gandalf, Bilbo, Boromir, and an elf and dwarf, Legolas and Gimmley. It's at that point they realize the Ring is evil, and the only way to destroy it is to got to Mt. Doom in Mordor, the place where it was forged, and toss it into the volcano. So they form the Fellowship of the Ring to do the task I just described, and we have the rest of our movie.

From that point on, it's epic. There on the quest of all quests. They're going across mountains, and into caves, and it's awesome. They establish that Frodo is the only one who can carry the Ring because he's the only one it doesn't seem to corrupt (unlike, say Boromir). Then we get to the best seen in the whole movie: they're in this mine that they've been fighting to survive in and then the Balrog comes out. They don't stand a chance, but then, in the event that established Gandalf as not only the greatest wizard ever but also the most badass old dude ever, Gandalf goes up to it while the others run away and screams "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" They have a fight, and then the Balrog drags Gandalf down with him, and it's the single most depressing movie death since Obi-Wan Kenobi (but like his counterpart in Star Wars, he doesn't stay dead for long, but again, that's another movie).

And then we're in the forrest, where Boromir finally gives in and tries to steal the Ring from Frodo, just in time for the Orcs to show up. There's a huge fight, Boromir dies, and the Fellowship breaks. Frodo's trying to get to Mordor by himself now, but Sam won't let him because they've got the ultimate bromance. Pippin and Merry get captured by Orcs, so Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimmely go to get them, and we have ourselves a cliffhanger.

What else is awesome about this movie besides everything I've just said? How about the acting by literally everyone. Sir Ian McKellan's great, Sean Astin's great, Orlando Bloom and the guy who plays Gimmley who's name escapes is great, and Elijah Wood is great as Frodo. That's important to, because Frodo is really the entire point of this story, and he'd been played by a crap actor, the entire franchise would've been worthless. The characters are great too, and the dialogue is the best possible dialogue you could have in a movie a like this. Add in awesome landscapes, fantastic music, and excellent action scenes (I'm not gonna say epic battles yet, because those don't really start until Two Towers), and you've got this movie. And it's awesome! I actually don't have any problems with this movie, because it's the perfect introduction to this world.

And you know what?

I saw Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and there was much rejoicing!

So, what's your favorite franchise-starting movie? Me, still gotta be New Hope. Comment below, let me know!