Lord of the Rings film praised for 'passion'

One of the first reviews of the film version of Lord of the Rings today said the movie had ‘‘real passion’’ and rated it above the Harry Potter film.

The review, in American magazine Newsweek, praised The Fellowship of the Ring, the first in the three-part adaptation of British author J R R Tolkien’s epic works, but warned it is too violent for young children.

Critic David Ansen, writing in this week’s issue of the magazine, praised its evil characters but warned it fell into ‘‘kitsch’’ with its heroes, including Gandalf the wizard played by Sir Ian McKellen.

The film, which also stars Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Sean Bean and Ian Holm, has its world premiere in London on December 10.

It is to be released on both sides of the Atlantic on December 19, and is expected to compare with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for its ability to fill cinemas.

Mr Ansen wrote: ‘‘It has real passion, real emotion, real terror, and a tactile sense of Evil that is missing in that other long current movie dealing with wizards, wonders and wickedness.

‘‘Jackson’s fierce, headlong movie takes high-flying risks: it wears its earnestness, and its heart, on its muddy, blood-streaked sleeve.’’

He praised director Peter Jackson, saying he had taken a series of risks in the three-hour film, which is the first part of what has been described as the biggest-ever project in Hollywood history and which was made in New Zealand.

‘‘The actors look into each others eyes and swear oaths in quasi-Shakespearean language that could, were it not for the utter conviction with which it is played, topple over into the ludicrous,’’ said Mr Ansen.

But he warned that while the depiction of evil is superb, good characters were less-well portrayed.

‘‘Cate Blanchett’s appearance as a white-robed, golden-locked Elven queen is like mediocre pre-Raphaelite calendar art,’’ he said.

He also gives his approval to the camera-work, and said: ‘‘Jackson’s camera flies like a hawk, swooping and plunging into breathtaking scenes of blood and destruction.’’

And he added: ‘‘Two of the most passionate performances come from Viggo Mortensen as the courageous Aragorn and Sean Bean as the conflicted warrior Boromir.

‘‘McKellen is a playfully magisterial Gandalf, and he is pitted against no less a foe than Christopher Lee as wizard turned bad Saruman.’’

The total budget for the three films, which are virtually complete, was £300m, making it the biggest-ever project for any film studio.

Rolf Mittweig, boss of New Line cinema, which put up the cash and has the rights to distribute it in America, said he had to insist that other countries bought all three films because of the scale of the investment.

‘‘They did that not knowing anything except that if the first film doesn’t work, the other two won’t work, either,’’ Mr Mittweig told the magazine.

The scale of the project meant there were seven camera crews working at once on different scenes, and three months were spent filming a night-time battle.

Mr Jackson said: ‘‘I’ve always thought fantasy was the last frontier of cinema.

‘‘It’s the only genre that’s never really been mastered. The characters are always so cliched.

‘‘I mean, I actually hate wizards in movies - they’re always terribly pompous, and they tend to fire blue lightning bolts from their fingertips.’’