The soaring imagination of man...again

Rating: 8/10 (7 September 2013)

When I watched this film at the theatre, I was underwhelmed. Not that it was a bad movie, but it just didn't seem up to the standards of the previous "Lord Of The Rings" series. Now, at home, watching it on Blu-Ray, I am changing my view.
First of all, like many, at the theatre I found the faster film speed to be very harsh. Here at home, I find it brings a welcome clarity to the picture, and not a bit harsh.
Second, I am now realizing what I didn't like as much about the script. The ultimate goal of the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy seemed fairly obvious from early on. It seems to me that unless you've read "The Hobbit" (which I haven't), it's not as obvious what the ultimate goal is here.
I do think the film series sometimes suffers a bit from an overabundance of special effects. Think about the scenes in this film where thousands of Orcs are attacking a little band of the good guys. Hundreds of Orcs die during the battle, but not one of good guys, even though they falls thousands of feet into a cave-canyon, even though rock giants are throwing boulders that could crush them. Maybe could we have a good guy die once in a while? It's difficult to critique the acting in this film...because there's way too much reliance on running and fighting, and not enough on good acting. Although, there is some very good acting here. Of course, everyone's favorite character -- Gandalf -- is played brilliantly by Ian McKellen. For me personally, he made me want to see all these films! But here, Martin Freeman also shines as Bilbo Baggins. In some ways the story really is about Bilbo...and toward the end of the film I couldn't help think of that saying, "Today you are a a man!" Cate Blanchett is beautiful as Galadriel, an elf and the co-ruler of Lothlórien, but her screen time is minimal. Hugo Weaving is good as Elrond, the Elven Lord of Rivendell. Ian Holm is around early in the film as the old Bilbo Baggins, and I enjoy his performances. Elijah Wood is also around for a bit as Frodo Baggins, though this is not really his film. Andy Serkis again plays Gollum, a character that always reminds me of Peter Lorre. As for the rest of the characters, the heavy makeup and special effects make it tough to determine how good their acting really is.
There's no question in mind about why I enjoy these films -- the soaring imagination of man. And, this film is another example of that!