Great attempt ruined by poor casting

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2002)

The scenery and costumes, particularly the armoury and weapons, were beautifully done but the casting, characterisation, acting and (some) set designs spoiled what could have been a brilliant movie. The Eye and 'other world' concept (when Frodo puts the ring one) was genuinely scary, but the rest of the movie was a let down.
What a disappointment to see unattractive actors (extras wandering around the background) playing the Elves who are supposed to be sublimely beautiful and spiritual creatures. Honestly, if the tv and movie makers of the Star Trek franchise can get fantastic looking actors to play the square-jawed, symmetrical-faced Vulcans, then Jackson could have got the same ones to play the Elves! Weaving as Elrond and Tyler as Elrond's daughter Arwen were miscast. (Don't ask me about Tyler's acting, I was too distracted by her collagen-pumped lips, changing iris and hair colour, and heavy makeup). Legolas' dark eyes and eyebrows with white blond hair reminded me of a comedy sketch I once saw about Sven the Swedish gym instructor. He, like Arwen, had a surprising variety of lipstick changes.
Unfortunately, some of the characterisations were off. Blanchett is a truly great actress but her role as elf-queen-earth-mother (from the book) was more like elf-queen-from-hell. What was the point of making her so sinister? Ditto for Elrond. The 'comical' characters (Gimli the dwarf, Merry and Pippin) should have been left on the cutting room floor.
The adequate/good acting from the likes of Boromir, Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, Aragorn, and (at times) Gandalf just threw the remainder of the cast into stark contrast. There are several scenes where actors don't seem to be acting to each other, but past each other as if the other actor wasn't even in the vicinity when the scene was shot. Weaving is a great actor (The Interview, Matrix) but his acting in the scene where he (Elrond) is leading a discussion about what to do with the ring was cartoonish rather than epic (which, I suppose, was the attempt). What accent was he trying to master? I kept waiting for him to laugh manically ('na-na-na-na') like the villain in a panto. Add Gimli, Merry and Pippin and this scene made me want to leave the cinema from pure embarrassment. (And what was the elf king of Lothlorien supposed to be trying to attain with that molasses slow delivery of his lines?)
Lothlorien (the garden of eden of middle-earth) is made to look dark, drear and sinister. And the landscape, though beautiful, changed too quickly during scenes, eg, when Arwen is fleeing the horsemen of the apocalypse (sorry the nine riders) she seems to be riding across continents, the landscape changing from english rolling hills, mighty open plains, dry woodlands, damp forests, etc.
Was there a reason that the hobbits had different accents? Why did the characters keep changing height (hobbits and gimli)? Resorting to 'slo-mo' camera techniques for dramatic moments is old hat (it should be banned from this day forth). Plus the glaring continuity problems (see Arwen's flight where the nine horsemen are riding within arms reach one second then twenty feet back in the next shot.
Of course I'll see the next two movies, but my expectations are now so low that I'll probably enjoy them!