Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the Rings

By PETER CALDER

That figure who flicks in and out of view as the hobbit quartet approaches the inn at the sign of the Prancing Pony bears more than a passing resemblance to a Wellingtonian called Peter Jackson.

If it is (and it should be said that the director could have hardly cast a more hobbit-like extra) it's a sly homage to one of the cinema's great masters, Alfred Hitchcock, who contrived to appear, in passing, in all his movies.

And the inclusion is ironic. For what makes this first part of the trilogy less than a masterpiece is something that Hitch knew well: audiences are always frightened more by what might happen than what happens. As he put it, there is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it.

The fellowship on the journey to Mordor - the hobbits, the wizard Gandalf and their four warrior companions - face daunting dangers: they are pursued or monstered by Ringwraiths, Orcs, a Balrog, a cave troll and a legion of Saruman's unearthly creations who look like they haven't flossed in weeks.

Yet the film, which is narrated for the uninitiated with astonishing clarity, is devoid of any sense of menace.

Even the frights are rather cheap - as when the cave troll pops suddenly into view while Frodo is leaning against a pillar - but what is intended to terrify is always obvious, never imminent or unseen.

The thrills are abundant, indeed, we were left panting for breath at times and the lulls in the action seem as a result less measured and somehow flatter than they probably are.

But the whole thing seems much more impressive than compelling or engaging.

We spend more time wondering how they did that (or marvelling at how well they did it) than really caring about what's going to happen next.

Thus monstered by the huge visual conceptions of which they are part, the actors seem to struggle to bring any depth to their characters.

Only Ian Holm (whose Bilbo is a peripheral figure) and the wonderful Ian McKellen (whose Gandalf blends impish whimsy with a stately gravitas) make us care about their fates and it is telling to contrast Gandalf's "Fly, you fools!" with Bean's final utterance as Boromir.

But if this adaptation is a high-tech, live-action computer-enhanced comic, a big-budget Xena without the high-camp kitsch, it must be said that it is awesomely executed from first to last.

The technical trickery, such as the digital effects which make hobbits half the size of the humans in the same frame, is seamless and there is an extra thrill for local audiences in watching the fantastic intrude into the familiar even if we sometimes have the fleeting sense of jolly japes in a DOC campground.

Howard Shore's excessive and obtrusive score is the sole major flaw but behind it is a big-screen adventure of uncommon mastery.

Hitch used to muse that the best he hoped for was to get 60 per cent of his conception on screen. It's plain Jackson did a lot better than that.

This is a film of which he and all involved are right to be proud.

Cast: Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd

Director: Peter Jackson

Rating: PG (battle violence, fantasy horror)

Running time: 178 mins

Screening: Everywhere