After Potter, CBCP hits Lord of the Rings

Just like the box office hit "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," the fantasy film "The Lord of the Rings" can cause nightmares to children.

At least that’s how the review board of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) saw the movie which has been garnering rave reviews all over the world.

"Just because there is no ‘impure act’ in ‘Rings,’ it doesn’t mean it’s clean enough for children," said the CBCP’s Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation (Cinema).

"The battle scenes could tire adults and produce nightmares in children which no amount of parental guidance may prevent," Cinema said in its review.

Aside from the potential bad dreams, however, Cinema gave "The Lord of the Rings" — which stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan and Liv Tyler — a review of "acceptable moral assessment" and an "above average technical assessment" and rated it for viewers at least 14 years old.

Cinema said adults will learn a great deal about choice, moral commitment and deep friendship.

The review board said the "ring" itself is a metaphor for greed and lust for power, which was forged by evil and attracts evil beings while it corrupts whoever possesses and abuses it.

The CBCP movie review board said the ring doesn’t do much in the story — mostly it just gleams as it hangs on a chain around the neck of the lead character Frodo, portrayed by Wood.

But the action around it can gently lead the viewer to realize the need for strength to come from within and to see that while people cannot choose the events in their lives, they can choose how to act when they happen.

"It is a good-versus-evil masterpiece that can remind us that to the pure of heart, it is easy to embrace responsibility and to brave death for the good of the community. And it whispers to us the message that even the smallest person beset by human fears can change the course of the future," Cinema said, citing the movie as an inspiring film.

Moreover, they said viewers do not have to read the J.R.R. Tolkien book, on which the movie is based, to appreciate the epic film because a voiceover prologue explains the background concisely.

The action then proceeds, straightforward and stunning in the film’s well-crafted blend of breathtaking scenery and sorcery.

Cinema also applauded the movie’s director Peter Jackson and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, who both employed all available assets and tricks to create a different kind of reality.

The board said this was evident in the intelligent acting, deceptive camera angles, miniatures, matte paintings, marvelous set designs, shooting locations and computer technology.

They said "the outcome is a film that weds myth and truth, action and reflection, naiveté and philosophy, picture and poetry in a believable whole that can carry away the viewer to Tolkien’s glorious world."

They also said the movie is almost technically perfect and, at the end of three hours and 18 minutes, could leave viewers asking for more.