2001, PG-13, 178 minutes

I know a lot of readers may cast me aside as a critic after reading this, but I didn't go head over heels for this film. In fact, I'm very divided about it and my reasoning is quite simple: it's just too damn long for its own good. I realize that Peter Jackson didn't want to upset the masses by making significant changes to Tolkien's story; however, the result is a film that proves how important editing truly is.

The Fellowship of the Ring starts out well enough - the introduction to this fantasy world is surprisingly brisk compared to the rest of it, and the early development of a few characters immediately pulls you in and at least makes you care about what's going to happen, unlike most movies of such a grand scale. Once Frodo (Elijah Wood) becomes the ring-bearer and is forced to go on the run with some of his pals, this is when the film really begins to shine and I can understand why so many people began to fall in love with it. The initial chase is both suspenseful and beautifully filmed, and a scene in which they are hiding within mere footsteps from their pursuer is probably the best of the entire movie.

Sadly, when the story is only about halfway through, this is when things take a turn for the worse. The cinematography, acting and other technical elements maintain the same high standards throughout, but as the alliance is formed to take the ring to be destroyed, their journey is continuously extended. As someone who hasn't read the book, I am told there are a few action scenes inserted or expanded for action's sake. This seemed fairly obvious to me, because many of these sequences were repetitive and did little to advance the overall story. The villains were different in each case, but the pattern of fight and run, fight and run became laborious to watch, and I must admit that I even checked my watch once or twice down the stretch. Perhaps this is because a few of the fights lacked any real sense of imminent danger, at least in my mind.

While this first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy did not work for me personally the way it did for some, I am glad to see that many moviegoers have discovered a film they can be passionate about. That said, from a purely analytical standpoint, it isn't the perfect piece of filmmaking that many would lead you to believe and it certainly has its share of flaws. All things considered, The Fellowship of the Ring is still a film that everyone should watch at least once, and possibly you'll be compelled to watch it many times over.