Admirable film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

OK, so it was a low-budget film. I thought it was very clever, with lots of enjoyable LOTR references, and satisfying visual effects. Also the acting was really quite good--certainly every bit as good as Central Intelligence, for example. Don't be put off by catty, negative reviews.

This movie made me smile, even laugh. Sure there were some stereotypes and some clichéd moments, but they didn't detract from the feel of the film. There are some movies that just give you a happy feeling while you watch them and leave you wanting to go out and kick life's butt, like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty or Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. This, for me, is one of those movies. Is some of the acting a bit over the top? Sure. But I've seen much cornier, stereotyped performances (the bad guys in Mall Cop for instance) and honestly Rise of The Fellows Hip had me caring about the characters from the beginning, unlike a lot of other "great" films. For reference, I'm eighteen and not a gamer in any sense of the word and I still enjoyed this movie. Family friendly though it may be, it's appeal has a much wider scope and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good, clean, heartwarming story.

Online games don't interest me, so I didn't expect to like Rise of the Fellowship. What a pleasant surprise! It's well acted and well written. As a Tolkien fan, I enjoyed the LOTR references, but there are other pleasures. Your kids will enjoy it, too.Each of the lead actors does a very good job, especially Justin Moe, Jayme Bell, and Cole Matson. Wolf Sherrill's performance as Baba Melvin is a delight.The sly humor of the script drew me in. These Tolkien fans don't take themselves too seriously in this affectionate play on the LOTR films. It's well paced and has charm. The resolution is neat and satisfying.Disclosure: I only watched this because a friend is married to one of the writers. But as I watched, I moved from curiosity to pride. Who cares about 4 teen gamers? You will when you watch this well told tale.

Rise of the Fellowship is a glorious love letter to both the Lord of the Rings and the world of gaming, with just a touch of John Hughes for seasoning. We are introduced to a quartet of dedicated young geeks who go to school and play Lord of the Rings Online together while trying to avoid the typically abusive jock squad. This and other tropes such as our hero Randall being hopelessly In love with the lead cheerleader will be very familiar to anyone who grew up watching movies in the 1980's. Things take an interesting turn though when a Lord of the Rings Online competition is announced and the jocks attempt to beat the geeks at their own game. They seem to do so but only through the use of trickery and in order to right this wrong, Randall, Stacy, Squirelly and Nate set out on an epic quest for truth, justice and the gamer way. Astute fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy will notice that Rise of the Fellowship plays homage to many elements from those movies and even crafts its own storyline to roughly follow that of the trilogy. Since this is only one movie and not three, that mechanism leads to certain things getting a bit muddled and hurried at some points but overall, it works. The acting is surprisingly good, especially considering that it is a small independent film, with the standout being the film's director who plays Randall's older brother Stan. The character development is also handled well, with one possible exception. But as that is tied to a significant plot twist others may find it justified. Finally, the film also gets high marks for its sound track and topnotch production values. All of these elements combine to make a film that will be appreciated by many for the light-hearted homage and geek rallying cry that it is. Definitely give it a look!