patpowers1995
The script for this movie set me on edge. It reinforced every superficial stereotype about gamers, its characters were extremely shallow, both the heroes and villains, and it used obvious, cheap gimmicks to push the audience's buttons. The bullies were cartoonish stereotypes, the good guys were cartoonish nerds. The notion that the very attractive girl nerd would associate with them was laughable. The acting was also poor, I didn't believe any of the characters at all and had to stop watching because I was cringing too much at it.This movie was literally disgusting to watch, not because of what occurred to the characters but for the way the movie creators tried to manipulate the audience. It is a totally paint by numbers effort. Do not bother. Watch The Guild on Youtube instead. If you honestly like this movie, I honestly feel sorry for you.
leelielou-862-335483
I've scored this movie 10 out of 10. It's a heartwarming film featuring lovable characters that genuinely made me care about whether everyone would get a happy ending. It's shot beautifully, lit beautifully, some of the 'dream' scenes look magical! The music was great too, it helped create a shire-like atmosphere even while in a high school! Favourite character by far was squirrelly, he was funny throughout, had some of the best lines and the actor gave a great performance. I loved The Lord of the rings and this movie in my opinion is like a love letter to it. Although I think the movie is geared towards lord of the rings fans I believe that even people who haven't seen The Fellowship of the Ring would still enjoy it. As far as I noticed this movie contains no language and is suitable for all, so I recommend checking it out especially if your a hobbit lover!
Dshannon-8
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.
lollygagamabop
This film is unexpected fun for Fellowship of the Ring fans. Four geek FOTR gaming friends team up to overcome adversity and try to win a national gaming championship far from home. The obstacles they encounter along the path mirror the adventures of four little hobbits from Tolkein's classic series. If you are well-versed in the Tolkein classics, you ought to enjoy this tribute film, all in good fun, which references many scenes from the novels that were not included in the recent films. My husband noticed many touches I missed, as he was more knowledgeable about the original, and my memory of my childhood reads was more faded. As it was released originally between the national big screen productions of LOTR and The Hobbit, knowledge of the novels is helpful in appreciating this piece in context, but for most, those movies could be seen first, then this enjoyed as a light relief from their intensity (!).What I love about this movie: humor; does not take itself too seriously; great allusions & bows to the original; ingenuity & originality; lighting was well done; action shots are believable. The costuming fairly simple-- appropriately.The Fellows Hip reminded me of the great teen flicks of the 80s--like Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink--with some reminiscent boy/girl romance elements, plus the ultra-geeks-meet-&-compete-with-jocks theme. Lots of memorable lines & strong over-the-top characters. Plus, it's pretty clean, with only a minor drug issue (pot) playing a role in the drama/conflict of the storyline, making this acceptable for a preteen audience. So, it's soft on adult humor/adult topic, and I enjoyed the refreshing nature of that as well.What rubbed me the wrong way: one miscast fellow. I felt his poor acting frequently detracted from the rest of what I found to be a thoroughly enjoyable film. He kept getting under my skin--kind of hard to overlook, unfortunately.All in all, this is totally worth a light-hearted weekend viewing for Tolkein fan families. I hope you laugh out loud as much as we did! Now our kids & we enjoy quoting parts of it to each other around the house- -it's that kind of film.