Movie Review: Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Just About Everybody

I have no idea how many people that read this also follow me on Twitter (@bannedlibrary, catch banned fever.) If you do, you may be aware that on the 27th Day of January, year of Superman 2013 I did a day-long live tweet commentary of all three Lord of the Rings films, the extended editions.  Starting at approximately 8:00 AM and ending nearly 15hours later (I took a break for lunch and paused while doing chores and such), I finally went to bed around midnight.  If you want to find that chain of what I think are honest insights and humorous asides, I suggest you check that out for supplemental material.  Also, it may have my favorite thing I have ever tweeted (toot a horn here), when I said “Frodo: "I wish I hadn't found the Bling." Hobo Magneto: "Tough shit. Keep on truckin." #LOTR #FOTR”

Summary

For those of you who do not really “get” pop culture: A little dude has to take a bit of bling and chunk it into some lava.  He starts off with a bunch of people, but they become assholes and go start a war.  Everything ends up pretty okay after that.

What I liked

• The production

Look here.  This is a gorgeous set of movies that a lot of people took a lot of time to make sure looked freaking amazing.  The mix of practical and CGI is nearly perfect as giant monsters battle wizards and eagles swoop in and things go boom and stomp and crash.  The battle scenes alone are simply awesome in their scope.

• The acting

Three get full mention.  Frodo, Sam, and Gollum carry not only a ring but about half of this movie.  While they do have moments that stretch on forever, when their part of the story gets a boost and something happens besides walking, it is awesome.  Especially when Sam cries or Gollum talks to himself.
The two other hobbits.  The first two movies they are basic comic relief but show true growth and gravitas.  The actors are obviously good at what they do, but I feel this is more the writers and editors finding those moments of truth that made me ultimately root for them over everyone else.

• The moments of brilliance.

Can I stress that I watched these movies (about 11 hours worth) in one day?  I don’t have that kind of time to waste.  I have to write reviews and stuff and do library doings.  So why did I do it?  The moments.  Gandalf Vs the Balrog.  Sam Vs Shelob.  Smeagol Vs Gollum.  I am not sure how many of you have read the books, but they can be dry with moments of divine awesomeness.  The big battles and victories and defeats are what make this story.  As are the quiet moments when characters talk about giving up, losing hope, and letting things destroy them.  Sam crying.  Frodo and Gandalf talking.  Aragon not wanting his fate.  These could be the best movies in the world with the best actors, but the source material was mined for gold and gave a near perfect representation.  

What I didn’t like

• Long

I’m not gonna lie; there’s not much I do not like about this series.  But one thing I can say is that this sumbitch is llllooooonnnngggg.  It meanders at times as characters walk around and give lovely speeches that are either contradicted, dismissed or just given a big ole ‘whatever’ to as they go along.  And then the 15 or so endings that wrap up all the stories.  I can not say what I would have done different because, well, this is not my story, but I do know that if one more person had sang we could have had another soundtrack from the last thirty minutes alone.

Who would like this

Nerds.  Fantasy fans.  Film fans.  Fans of long, long epic stories.  People who like horses.  Jewelry nuts.  Numenoreans.

Why was it banned?

The reasons for banning the books are outlined here.  Mostly for violence, magic, witchcraft, death, smoking, you know.  All the cool stuff that Christians do not like.

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