LOTR Jumps the Shark 247
eggoeater writes "The latest incarnation of The Lord of the Rings is here in the form of musical theater and, as reported by Yahoo News, the reviews are not good. The Toronto production puts less emphasis on plot, character, and music, and concentrates more on hi-tech theatrics. The production uses a 40-ton, computer controlled stage with 17 elevators and the cast of 55 goes through 500 costumes in the 3 hour performance. Despite this, the same critics say it will be a big money-maker."
Jump the Shark (Score:2, Informative)
Shark? (Score:3, Informative)
MAD already did it.. (Score:5, Informative)
And I bet the songs in the MAD version were better.
Re:only one? (Score:3, Informative)
At least that's been the status-quo in the last several plays I've been to, several of which were mediocre and didn't deserve it.
Slashdot jumped the shark ages ago.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Yeah well... (Score:3, Informative)
The explanation is that it's too risky. They're great eagles, not exactly pigeons. And they're not just common eagles either. You can bet that Sauron would see them coming hours before they arrived, and the Nazgul would be all over them before they could cross the border to Mordor.
They could sneak in after the ring was melted because Sauron vanished in a puff of smoke, and everything remaining was in chaos and nobody gave a damn about the eagles anymore.
I've seen it... (Score:5, Informative)
It wasn't *bad*
Which is really the best I can say about it.
It may be that I'm just not a "musical" kind of guy.
Here's my take
I wasn't impressed by the songs,
I thought nearly all of the costumes were pretty weak,
Some set pieces were really bad (Bag End was a wicker slinky).
The special effects were overdone, leading to a completely frantic feeling for the entire production,
They rushed through important plot points, and lingered over fluff,
Gandalf looked like a thirty year old, 110lb guy in a fake beard, and was far too weak for the role,
The "Scouring of the Shire" was rushed to the point where they should have left it out,
Arowyn kept showing up and singing at the strangest times,
The dancing trees were a little too minimalist to come across,
What the HELL did Galadriel have on her head, Cthulu?.
But...
Saurman was an excellent actor, and I dug his costume/makeup,
The high-tech stage was kind of nifty, and only slightly overused,
I think Gollum will be very good once the amphetamines wear off... the scene where he is fighting with himself was great,
The Black Rider's costumes were awesome,
I liked the stage vines creeping out towards you, it is a neat effect,
the pre-show firefly scenes were amusing,
The first 5 minutes of the Prancing Pony song were great, then it started to drag as they repeated it over and over again,
Gimli was well acted, as was Sam.
If I've not listed it above I've either forgotten about it, or found it thoroughly mediocre.
Unrelated to the show, the seats were horrible, Westjet's cheapest has significantly more leg room, maybe that's just up in the balcony, but I was pretty sore by the time it was all over.
All and all, I'd say that if you get free tickets, by all means go. Otherwise, let them polish it up for a while.
Good for LOTR Fans (Score:4, Informative)
Boston Globe Review [boston.com]