After clocking 11 movies in the first 8 months of 2012, I was on track to set a new record of movies watched in a year. (The previous record was 16 movies in 2011.) However, work has not allowed me to call in to radio and win free movie tickets. :(
I have always been a fan of medieval-themed stuff, be it movies, computer games, board games or even novels. Out of impulse, I went to catch the movie at the newly opened GV City Square (so near my house!) after work on its 2nd day of showing. Even though the hall was almost fully booked, I was still able to get tickets 30 minutes before the movie because I only needed 1 ticket. GV should be thankful that I'm clearing the "wasted" spaces for them. Haha. Digressing, I was slightly shocked that the ticket was $11.50. I always thought weekend tickets were $10 last time, that's quite a bit of inflation...
I read the book in Secondary 1 because it was one of the compulsory books that we had to buy, but I have forgotten 90% of the details already. Apart from knowing that the movie is 170 minutes long and it's part of a trilogy, I went in with zero expectations and a tired mind after a long day at work.
The movie actually ticked most of my items in the checklist. One, the start was very good. The story-telling was engaging and caught my interest. It allowed the viewers to know the background which made it easy for non-readers or even non-LOTR viewers to know what was going on. Two, the scenery is SO SO SO beautiful. Everything was so pretty, from the mountains to grassy plains to even waterfalls. Because the pace of the movie was between slow to average, I actually find myself drifting out of the movie sometimes to admire the scenery on the screen. Haha. Three, I love the characters! The likeable characters are Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf, but my favourite is definitely Gollum! His split personality is always entertaining to watch. Four, it is funny. I didn't expect it to generate much humour but it really cracked me up on certain occasions.
There's nothing really to pick about the movie. The length was actually alright and I was kept entertained throughout the entire 170 minutes. The only unusual observation I made was that some of the audience were shocked why the movie ended without a proper ending. I think they didn't know it's part of a trilogy and the ending was supposed to be a "sub-ending", just like LOTR. I'm reluctant to give full marks, solely because if I were to do that, that what should I give for the remaining instalments? :P
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars