"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" - SPOILER ALERT

When I borrowed the previous two Marvel movies from the library, the effects of the pandemic were really starting to be felt in my home state. Because of this, I wasn't sure if I would get to the library again anytime soon after watching "Age of Ultron" and "Ant-Man". So, when I borrowed those two movies, I toyed with the idea of borrowing the rest of the MCU at the same time. We are allowed to borrow up to 30 movies at one time. However, we can only have them for one week at a time or up to three weeks if no one requests them. If the library had stayed open all this time, I would have had to watch, review, and return all of the movies in one to three weeks.  While I could have watched all of them in one to three weeks, I would not have been able to fully enjoy and review them in that period of time. I suppose I should have seen the shutdown coming, and I therefore would now be happily "stuck" with the rest of the MCU, but with respect to borrowing movies, I didn't plan for it. Now the library is closed for the foreseeable future and I can't even return the two movies I do have. Occasionally, some of the MCU movies come on t.v. at no extra charge, but the next one is not scheduled to air anytime soon. I'd have to pay a fee to watch it and I'm not ready to spend money on that.

So, onto Plan B until the library reopens or until I can watch "Captain America: Civil War" at no extra charge on t.v.

Recently, a dear friend asked me if I have ever seen "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I had not (I have not even read the books), but soon after that conversation, I remembered I own all three of those movies. My movie collection isn't very big; how did I overlook them for so long and never watch them??

After our conversation, I had planned on watching this trilogy after finishing the Marvel movies, but since I will not be watching the MCU for the time being, I might as well make good use of the spare time I have. It was recommended that I give "The Lord of the Rings" their own time, so that is what I plan to do. If the library reopens before I finish this trilogy, I will still see it through before moving on to Phase 3 of the MCU. "The Lord of the Rings" movies are LONG and I tend to watch each movie at least twice before reviewing it. I also usually watch them a little at a time each day (at least when I watch them for the first time), so I believe this trilogy will keep me contently occupied for quite a while.

The movie opens with a thorough, but concise and engaging explanation of the rings.  We then go into the Shire and meet a few more main characters. We get the feeling that the Shire is a happy-go-lucky safe place where everyone is comfortably living in a state of bliss. We then find out how the One Ring has begun to corrupt Bilbo Baggins and that he plans to leave the Shire. He tries to take the One Ring with him, but his longtime friend, and in my opinion, Yoda-like character, Gandalf, stops Bilbo from doing this. Gandalf leaves the ring with Bilbo's nephew, Frodo.

Meanwhile, Gandalf goes off to learn more about the ring and finds out about its evil powers. He advises Frodo to take it away from the Shire so that it does not spread evil in their land. It appears that this is Frodo's calling and the ring was meant to end up in his hands for a reason. And so begins Frodo's journey, eventually joined by a group that become known as The Fellowship of the Ring, to rid of it. Frodo later learns that the One Ring must be destroyed in Mount Doom. The movie ends with him continuing his journey to Mount Doom to rid of the ring, with the company of his friend, Samwise. Others from the Fellowship stay back and plan to rescue two other young hobbit friends.

There are so many poignant themes in this movie. Among them are good vs. evil, loyalty and friendship, power, fear (and overcoming it), fulfilling your destiny, and choosing how you spend your time based on the cards life hands you (which is especially relevant to the time we're living in now). There are many more themes, but these are the ones that stand out most to me.

After spending so much time with the Avengers recently, I couldn't help noticing one standout similarity. Both movies involve a group of beings who come from different backgrounds working together to basically save the world. Yet, despite this similarity, the movies are so very different...and so very enjoyable to watch in their own unique ways.

One of the many points that sets "Lord of the Rings" apart from other trilogies I've seen in the past is that one story doesn't end with the first movie. While some movies have me wanting to see the next one in the series, the way "The Fellowship of the Ring" ends leaves me feeling like I have to to see the next one. This was a very clever way to end the movie. In some ways I felt satisfied, but in other ways I need to know what happens next and how the story will continue. How did anyone manage to wait a whole year to see what happens next? I'm glad I don't have to!

Check out my reviews of the rest of the trilogy!

"Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

"Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"