Not everything it could have been (7/10)

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2001)

Yes, I saw it on opening day and yes I liked it. Nearly everyone who saw this movie on opening day is a fan and has probably read the book. And that is one of the major troubles. To friends of mine who were also in the cinema haven't read the books. And they had a hard time following the story. Some things are just left unexplained. Even some of the cast confused those who hadn't read the book. The moment Boromir gets introduced some thought there were two Aragorns. They just look a bit similar. Names in movies are always hard. Sometimes you don't understand them, sometimes they are simply left out. And this starts to confuse people who haven't seen those names (and the places) in writing. You have: Bree, Rivendell, Nazgul, Gandalf, Saruman, Boromir, Strider, Aragorn (just another name for Strider), Gimli, Gloin, Balin, Gladriel, Arwen, Legolas, Pippin, Samwise Gamgee, Mary, Frodo, Bilbo, Elron, Isildur, etc.
Starting to get confused? Well that's what happens. Tolkien did a great job in the book with the map. Why not show it on screen (like they did in the Indiana Jones movies). That way you get totally lost. You have a lot of people, a lot of places, and you cannot grasp all of that. So in essence: you have to read the book to understand the movie.
The other thing that wasn't right was all the kitsch of the movie. e.g. Someone takes a lot of hits till he finally goes down (mortally wounded) and then takes more than 10 minutes on screen to die. Things like that are better left for romantic comedies.
But the movie also has a lot of good things. It's wonderfully made, the cast is nearly perfect, the action and the effects are good, and if you know the story you will enjoy it.
Read the book, than go see this movie. I gave it 7 out of 10