"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (Book and Movie) Absolutely Sublime

 

    While I have written book reviews before, I watched and read this book at around the same time, so I felt it was fitting that I simply compile my thoughts about both into one post. Honestly, it's been quite some time since I've read the series, and after finishing the first novel, I have to ask myself why I was underrating it so much. Perhaps I had been too ASOIAF-pilled, excited at the prospect of all these common fantasy tropes being turned on their head, tropes that were most-likely popularized by this very novel I read. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It may be 500 pages, and fantasy might be my favourite genre to read, but honestly this novel was a joy to read. So often online do you hear people complain about Tolkien's writing and how he was more a "historian" than writer, and honestly I do not really see it. Yes, sometimes the books will randomly go on a tirade about certain random details, but other than the fact that they leave Boromir's death for the beginning of the second book I do not have too many complaints about how it played out.

    Of course, that was until I watched the film, which did give me an idea of what I was missing, and what could have been improved on. Truthfully, Tolkien could have done a much better job focusing on the characters. The film is three hours long, and while Jackson does not do much, I think for the most part most of his character changes are much appreciated. Aragorn feeling as if he's unworthy or cursed hence why he never claimed the throne feels believable, more believable that he pretty much immediately gets Anduril as soon as the fellowship sets out and just acts kingly from there on out. Sean Bean's performance as Boromir really does help too, especially considering that in the novel he's basically just a parrot that says "we need to go to Gondor" all the time. At least Jackson attempts to give Gimli and Legolas personalities? Lastly, I do appreciate that Sam's fondness to Frodo feels more like a best friend situation, rather than some weird attachment to his master who he happens to do his garden.

    That is not to say the film is perfect. Honestly, I did enjoy this film, but the more I watch it the more confident I am in saying that perhaps it should have been a TV show. I'm not saying we need an episode dedicated to learning about characters like Bill the Horse, or some big showcase of Tom Bombadil. Rather that this movie can feel really rushed at times. I think it is by far the most notable when they're doing line deliveries. All props to Ian McKellen, but he does sound like he's rushing through some of the lines he's performing at times. Perhaps that was the intention, the characters were never supposed to sound the most natural, but as someone who read the novel there are clearly times where you feel as if they skipped crucial information. I mean Bilbo's speech is just straight up removed. I'm not saying I need to see it, but its moments like those, where I paused it and wondered if they explained why they're doing certain actions in the movie, or I just know because I read the books.

    I will say I think they did do a good job of adapting the novel to the screen though. While I do feel like they should have had Saruman be someone "pretending to work for Sauron" for his own ambitions, having him be present as this villain directly impacting the fellowship was a good move. In addition, giving Arwen and other random side characters slightly larger roles do make them feel more impactful considering their roles later on in the series. Not to mention, I do agree with them ending the first part with the fight in which the fellowship are broken up. I understand I am probably biased because I do not remember the book ending on that sort of a cliffhanger, so my memories have definitely been influenced by the film. though, one could argue that the fact I remembered it that way probably means that it made more sense.

Final Score: 85/100

    My final scores have always been so arbitrary anyways so I don't really think it matters if my score is realistically too low. Or the fact that I rated both the movie and its film adaptation the same rating. Honestly, the film looks more aged than I remember, but it's also almost been 25 years. I remember when I first watched the director's cut I was just following what people said online, but I'm almost inclined to say that they're right and that there needs to be more info. Of course, I am on team "make it a TV show instead", because honestly four hours is too much, and if you think it's ok for a film to be that long I think you should ask yourself why you're so afraid to cut things. This series really does have the juice though, and frankly I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I did not remember the series being this good. I originally re-read it for a class, but now I'm excited to revisit the series this time, with just a deeper appreciation. I suppose in a sense binging really does hamper how much you can enjoy a series sometimes? Especially when you feel like you're forcing it. Anyways, I recently re-read through all of the Invincible comics though I'm unsure if I'll be writing a review for those.