It’s time for another Lord of the Rings title! The series is quite consistent with how sleepy each installment makes you. The plots are overbearing, the pacing is abysmal, the characters are annoying, and ultimately this makes for a very bad combination. When the Lord of the Rings is in your corner then you know quality will be left far behind. While I will put this above the average live action film, it’s still just not good. You would need to drastically retool the story in order to make it successful at this point.

The film starts off by giving us a farewell to Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf has returned to make sure he gives the ring to Frodo. He has to be forced into it but this works and so after a few years Frood is the next one in line to go on an adventure. He has to keep the ring really safe though because it is so alluring and tempting that everybody wants it. Even Frodo begins to fall to its charms as his legs get heavier and heavier. Will he be able to make it to his final destination or will the forces of evil stop him?

You have to always contain a lot of suspense for disbelief for the Lord of the Rings title because the heroes are just so much weaker than the villains. Frodo and the other hobbits for example can’t do much of anything against the villains. They will quickly be picked off an dismantled without a fight if it came down to that. There are a few allies who jump in later to help but the party gets split up most of the time. So Frodo lasting as long as he does is always a bit of a headscratcher.

Meanwhile Gandalf is still the biggest poser in the series. The guy is said to have unimaginable power but admits he would fold before the ring almost immediately. He then gets captured early on in the film and even once he returns, the guy spends a lot of time running instead of just ending the villain legions. I know there are limits to his abilities but the problem is that there seem to be countless limits. He is always on the defensive/back foot here. He does not live up to his prestigious title.

Unfortunately the animation is also pretty rough here. It’s not that bad when it’s just the hobbits running around as the animation is traditional but any time we enter a fight or have the villains on screen, it suddenly becomes very abstract with the colors all being very off putting. It’s not a flattering style for the film to say the least and that’s unfortunate. It makes the film appear way more dated than it already is and it’s not like this is a newer film either. The soundtrack is also basically nonexistent at this point so you don’t even have that to distract you from the repeated scenes and recycled animation. No, you’re stuck by that point.

The film could be surprisingly intense at times with how the characters are stabbed and murdered. The film doesn’t have to hold back so much since it is animated but I don’t think it ever goes too far. So it gets some credit there. The fight scenes are still lacking in choreography but at least we did have some battles. With more likable characters then this could have really been good. Instead we’re stuck with Frodo who seems to complain a whole lot. Perhaps less than Bilbo but Frodo is still not having a good time here for the most part.

Sauron continues to look very uninspired as well. He doesn’t even get a proper opening fight here as he loses the ring during narration as he suffers a humiliating defeat. I will still never be able to take that villain seriously after the way he lost. You wouldn’t see the average minion lose as easily as he did. How can you possibly come back from that? I just don’t think there is any way to do that. Not like the heroes look any more impressive though. On the whole the villains have cooler designs and abilities so it’s easy to see why they are always in the lead but even with that it’s just hard to get very engaged in what’s going on.

At the end of the day I would say that is the film’s biggest problem. Before working on the animation and fights, you need to focus on the plot because that is the most important element for a film. That is where you will either win or lose. You need to have a story that is interesting so the audience can identify with the characters and have a blast. Technically speaking the film has a fairly large cast of characters but the problem is that none of them are able to hold their own scenes at all and so what you really have is just a lot of things happening on screen with no way to really care about the outcomes.

As for how specifically you change this, that’s tough. There is no objective way to make a character likable after all. I’d say maybe a change of scenery and a big change to the writing structure as well. The characters tend to be a bit repetitive and while Gollum is intentional, the rest aren’t. Gollum ends up being one of the most entertaining characters because of how over the top he is but it’s in a very ironic way. I would never be able to say that I actually like him as a character because he doesn’t rank at all. He’s the kind of character who you are waiting for the heroes to bump off. They take some real chances letting him stay as close as he is.

I suppose the whole ring plot in itself is also a problem because it makes the characters look so weak. Gandalf exploding with anger and telling Frodo off because of his own weakness to the ring is just a terrible scene for the guy. Then another one of Frodo’s so called loyal companions has a bout of madness and tries stealing the ring as well. Not exactly the kind of allies you want around you and since this is our only context for the characters, they haven’t earned enough good will to survive such negative scenes.

Overall, The Lord of the Rings is about the same as you would expect. It’s still a rather boring experience which is unfortunate because you can feel the potential. It may not live up to this potential most of the time but it still exists. That is the kind of potential that shines through if you look at the video games because both titles for Gamecube were actually pretty good. That shows that this can work in at least one format and if you can work in one then you can work in all of them. They just need to speed up the pacing and make the characters vastly more interesting. If the films ever do that then it will be a step in the right direction but for now you should skip this one real quick.

Overall 4/10