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11-12-01 news BY JASON O'CALLAGHAN
Lord of the Rings Premiere Review...

Intrepid ShowBiz Ireland reporter Jason O'Callaghan went to review the London premiere of Lord of the Rings, but by the sound of things he was itching to get out to review the niteclubs...

Well here's his review, keep in mind Mr. O'Callaghan has not read any of Tolkien's books nor is he a fan:

Leaving Dublin for the premiere in London I was already in no mood to see the so-called greatest film release of the year as it held one major problem for me. That is, at just under THREE HOURS in a cinema seat, it was going to be a very rushed deadline. Put on top of that I didn't know where my hotel was yet and my dial-up connection was on the blink, I had the distinct impression I wasn't going to enjoy my sojourn.

I had got hold of the book two weeks prior but hadn't had the chance to even glance at its pages. But to be completely honest the world of Wizards and Elves doesn't turn me on cinematically having been totally bemused by Harry Potter - I thought this was going to be another over-hyped movie.

The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three films and cost nearly $100 million dollars. It had a lot to live up to. Which it did in some parts...

SIMPLE STORYLINE SYNOPSIS:

The basic storyline for those in the dark (like me) goes as follows... The Dark Lord Sauron created a Ring in Mount Doom that is pure evil and renders it's wearer with immense power.

Sauron loses the ring and it eventually falls into the tiny hands of a Hobbit called Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) and passes it on reluctantly to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood).

The Dark Lord Sauron then sends his evil minions to retrieve the Ring at all costs.

So, Bilbo's friend, a Wizard called Gandalf (Ian McKellen) puts together the Fellowship to make sure the Ring goes back to where it came from, Mount Doom, and is destroyed.

GOOD POINTS:

The scenes are breath taking, the locations make you want to jump into screen, the fight scenes are mind blowing, the CGI is best I've seen, and the score is perfect for the setting.

BAD POINTS:

The biggest issue is that we don't just have to wait for the end of the first movie or even the second movie. No, we have to wait until sometime at the end of next year to get the full story when the third movie is released.

Plus, Sean Bean is one of those actors that makes me cringe. I have yet to forgive him for his roles in Patriot Games and The Field (please stop playing Irish people). He plays a character called Boromir but portrays him in a similar manner as Sean Miller in Patriot Games; I kept wishing Harrison Ford would appear and kick his arse!!

The acting on a whole is good but characters like Sam Gamgee (Sean Aston, the Goonies) are not very well cast. Short American actor hired to play the role of the lead character's best friend. It seemed to me Aston had a dodgy English accent asking for an "ale" like he was ordering a Budweiser during the Super Bowl.

Jonathan Rhys Davies (Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark) plays a dwarf, Gimli. Again totally miscast.

CONCLUSION:

To me it is another Pearl Harbor. The same hype but thankfully a lot better.

Worth a trip to cinema just to see what all the hype is about but like Harry Potter some things are just better as the author intended, as a book.

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