Rise of the Fellowship

Despite having spent somewhere around 3 years on playing Lord of the Rings Online and about 27 years of playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons, then this movie wasn't really all that exciting.

There were some nice moments here and there, but in overall, there wasn't much enjoyable material to be found in "Rise of the Fellowship", despite all the references to the Lord of the Rings and also with all the outtakes from Lord of the Rings Online.

The storyline was predictable and basically just trotted ahead in a fairly slow and monotone pace, which really never enthrall or captivates the audience. There weren't any overall coherency in the build up of anything really, nothing lead up to anything climatic, and you knew exactly how the movie would end right from the very beginning.

The acting in the movie was one of the stronger aspects to the movie, as people were doing good enough jobs with their given roles, and thumbs up for that, because they had very little script-wise to work with.

I am sure that there are some fans out there who will find some kind of amusement and entertainment in this movie. However, I didn't really find much of anything in the movie, aside from some good chuckles and memories from back in the day when I spent countless hours playing Lord of the Rings Online. This movie, however, didn't really do anything for me.

If you are a gamer then your money is better spent on the movie "Zero Charisma".

Sharing some cinematic DNA with 2002's "Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings", "Rise of the Fellowship" is another Mid-Atlantic lensed, low-budget fantasy epic that lucked into a wide release by being marketed as a quickie "Lord of the Rings" cash-in. "Fellowship" can at least boast the nice professional look of a Syfy or Lifetime original, but past that, "Max Magician" wins out in this dubious race to the top of the Walmart cut-out bin since it actually has some plot and structure-- cliché, simple- minded and predictable though it may be.

"Fellowship", on the other hand, is just a clumsy stringing together of imagery from the "Lord of the Rings" without regard to coherence or meaning; it's like being trapped in an elevator with a foaming-at-the-mouth Peter Jackson ultra-nerd ranting along the lines of "Remember that scene where that thing happened? Wasn't that great? And that other scene where that other thing happened? So awesome! And then that...." Within five minutes of watching this film, you'll seriously consider taking your own life; after ten minutes, your loved ones will be making funeral arrangements.

Normal folks with critical thinking facilities intact will want to steer clear of this but if you're an undiscriminating dork who's a sucker for shameless fan boy pandering, bring a large spoon because you'll want to savor every delicious drop. Bon Appétit!

I really expected more out of this film than what it is. I was hoping the characters were full on geeks and dressed as The Fellowship. I wanted the group to act more like The Fellowship and quote more from the book/film. Disappointed.

2/10.

I hadn't heard about this until a friend told me about it, and at first the information and trailers I'd seen had been confusing. was it called RISE OF THE FELLOWSHIP, or FELLOWS HIP? Was it, as the first title (and one of the trailers I'd seen) suggested, an Asylum ripoff of a certain bunch of Middle Earth and Hobbit movies? If so, then the synopsis I'd read, making it a contemporary story about a bunch of gamers playing at Lord of the Rings, was wrong. As it turned out, it was the latter, which I was much more inclined to watch. But I didn't get past the first thirty minutes. The direction and execution of it is very good, adapting the look of Peter Jackson's movies and music to reflect the experiences of the lead characters, reminding me of the D&D episode of NBC's Community, one of their best episodes. But the acting was poor throughout, all Over The Top effusive projection, reminiscent of some bad kid's show (the guy who played the store owner was particularly guilty of this). The writing is a bit too expository (there must be better ways of showing that the lead character has a brother rather than the brother having to pretty much say "I'm your brother"), and the idea of the entire universe being against you might have been more appealing when I was a teenager, but it seems more trite now. In comparison, I preferred the movie Zero Charisma, also about a gamer but not painting him as a paragon of good, and when the world seems against him, there's actually some legitimate reasons for it.

I may return to it and give it another go, but not now.

Online games don't interest me, so I didn't expect to like Rise of the Fellowship. What a pleasant surprise! It's well acted and well written. As a Tolkien fan, I enjoyed the LOTR references, but there are other pleasures. Your kids will enjoy it, too.

Each of the lead actors does a very good job, especially Justin Moe, Jayme Bell, and Cole Matson. Wolf Sherrill's performance as Baba Melvin is a delight.

The sly humor of the script drew me in. These Tolkien fans don't take themselves too seriously in this affectionate play on the LOTR films. It's well paced and has charm. The resolution is neat and satisfying.

Disclosure: I only watched this because a friend is married to one of the writers. But as I watched, I moved from curiosity to pride. Who cares about 4 teen gamers? You will when you watch this well told tale.