'FELLOWSHIP' JOLLY GOOD, BLOODY GREAT IN ROUNDABOUT WAY, MOVIE RESONATES.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

You've got to admire the effort that went into making J.R.R. Tolkien's massive fantasy epic ``The Lord of the Rings'' into three long movies. Even when the first film out of the box, ``The Fellowship of the Ring,'' doesn't always enchant.

Shot over 274 days spread among some 16 months, with multiple camera units often going simultaneously in various regions of director Peter Jackson's native New Zealand, the project gets points for sheer sprawl control alone. Before that, there was the unenviable job of boiling down more than 1,000 pages of the 20th century's most popular published myth into three scripts that would satisfy the millions who adore the books while appealing to those unfamiliar with Middle-earth's dense population of Hobbits, elves, warriors, wizards, dwarfs, Orcs, Ringwraiths and whatnots.

I'm guessing that Tolkien fans will find the scrupulous inclusion of all these creature/folk and their many, lovingly rendered habitats a long-held dream come true (the trilogy, which is actually one long story cut up into three books, began in 1954, after all). Newcomers will likely respond across a wide spectrum, from blown away by Jackson's imposing settings and action sequences to unhappily enlightened (``Can you believe how many ideas Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas and J.K. Rowling stole from this guy?'') to perplexed as to why watching a bunch of hairy-footed munchkins and their friends trek across every landscape New Zealand has to offer is supposed to be interesting, let alone such a big deal.

The deal, of course, won't fully emerge until the third film in the trilogy, ``The Return of the King,'' arrives sometime in 2003. This first chapter, then, is primarily about getting the lay of the land, its many inhabitants and the tormented history that comes down to try their souls in the form of a deceptively ordinary-looking piece of jewelry.

The ring in question was forged many centuries before the main action by super-evil entity Sauron, then lost for a good while after the dark lord's forces were defeated by an alliance of elves and humans. It was eventually found and kept safe by Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), one of the diminutive Hobbits - timid, semi-leprechaun creatures who (Bilbo being the exception) tend to stay close to their bucolic homeland in the Shire.

But Sauron's evil spirit is once again stirring, and to prevent him from spreading horror across the world, the ring must be destroyed in the faraway volcano Mount Doom. Trouble is, this source of infinite power tends to corrupt whomever holds it absolutely.

Luckily, though, Bilbo's nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) seems to be the only sentient creature in all of Middle-earth with a pure enough soul to carry the ring without being tempted to use it for selfish gain. A fine quality, but this also means he's kind of a wimp (I think Wood was hired for his ability to continually widen his eyes in terror). So as Frodo journeys across the many lands between the Shire and demon-infested Mordor, where the volcano lies, he must collect a lot of allies to protect him.

These guys, the title Fellowship, include several comical Hobbit buddies, the ancient wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), a couple of Conan-like mortal men (Viggo Mortensen plays the hunky Aragorn, Sean Bean the threatening Boromir), an angelic blond elf who is apparently the Tolkienian equivalent of a Backstreet Boy (Orlando Bloom), and a cantankerous dwarf (John Rhys-Davies).

Arrayed against the Fellowship are such evil creatures as ugly Orcs (elves gone ghoulishly bad), the Nazgul (kings of men turned into a spectral black cavalry) and Saruman (a former colleague of Gandalf's, played by Hammer Films' Dracula Christopher Lee, who now gets his jollies by breeding a race of mega-Orcs - can we call 'em Morks?).

Got all that straight? Hope so, because that's just step one. There are lots of other characters, and most of the times we meet one, they'll start talking about still more characters. This and tireless explanations of the mysticism and history governing all that's going on can have a certain eye-glazeover effect - even with a fine pictorialist like Jackson (``Heavenly Creatures,'' the zombie bloodbath comedy ``Dead Alive'') working overtime to make an ocular orgy out of everything on the screen.

As with the Harry Potter movie, the most successfully cinematic aspects of ``Fellowship of the Ring'' are its design elements. There's always something worth ogling: elvish cities that are Maxfield Parrish paintings come to glandular life, the Shire that looks like a Beatrix Potter whimsy gone convincingly organic, combat with giant ogres and armies of ick-a-zoids that move with all the impacted fury of Frank Frazetta's sword-and-sorcery illustrations ... and much, much more, including uncountable, multifaceted trick shots that make Wood and company appear physically smaller than they are beside full-size humanoids.

Whatever pacing problems ``Fellowship'' may possess seem inevitable and are generally forgivable, too. There's a whole lotta legend that needs to be imparted somehow, and you could do worse than having this generally fine cast of international actors just tell us about it. Pokey and repetitive as it sometimes is, the movie does immerse us in the most elaborate fantasy world put on film since ``The Matrix'' - and few are the superproductions that can move as swiftly and smartly as that one does.

And ``Fellowship,'' unapologetic setup that it is, begins to intrigue on deeper levels in its latter stages. Frodo develops a little gumption, the moral risks even the ring's most noble defenders must wrestle with crystallize, and we get a good taste of the visceral nature this particular battle between good and evil will take. It leaves us with an implicit promise that the next two movies will be more formally exciting and emotionally engaging. They had better be.

``THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING''

(Rated PG-13: violence)

The stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Peter Jackson. Written by Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders, Jackson and Walsh. Released by New Line Cinema.

Running time: Two hours, 52 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Cate Blanchett, as the Elf Queen Galadriel, shares a tender moment with Elijah Wood as the Hobbit Frodo Baggins, who must save the world in ``The Fellowship of the Ring.''

(2) Elrond the elf (Hugo Weaving), an ally of the Fellowship, prepares to lead a regiment into battle.

(3) As the evil wizard Saruman the White, Christopher Lee wields dark powers against the heroes of the movie.