Better than The Unexpected Journey!

Rating: 8/10 (20 January 2014)

Now that you've started with the series watching the first one, you can't miss out on the middle pages of the book can you? But honestly, after watching the trailers, I thought the movie would be a huge disappointment, and I was not really excited about it. However, I ended up liking it better than The Unexpected Journey, for the second installment of the trilogy has more meat and substance, where the plot unravels slowly yet steadily, and everything seems to start to make sense finally. Peter Jackson does a commendable job with the direction, and an interesting screenplay gets you engrossed in the film.
On the acting front, kudos to Ian McKellin for putting up such a consistent performance in the series. He's brilliant. I was starting to wonder what all and how much Gandalf had to survive through the books. Uff! The rest of the cast, but for the only female character were good. Though she looked beautiful, I though Evangeline Lilly looked odd and did not exactly fit into the role.
On technical front, the editing is much better than its predecessor. Cinematography is brilliant, and the 3D effects are alright. The graphics looked a little artificial at times though, and the music too seemed too melodramatic and not as great as the LOR score.
Acting: 8.5/10 Story-Screenplay-Direction: 8.5/10 Technical Aspects: 8.5/10
Verdict: 8.5/10
For more reviews, please visit sasikanth.me :)