Not as good as I hoped

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2002)

You should never allow american filmmakers (or producers, that's the same) to read an european book and transform it into a movie. You've got some heroes to deal with? Well, they must be nice-looking, no matter if they are bad-looking hobbit and so on. If you have told me that Wood would have plaied an elf, I should have said "wow"; playing Frodo, I just can say he's (at least!) a good actor. You've got some monsters to fight? Well, the fight is on, and on, and on and on. Hours of ferocious fight, no matter how short it should have lasted, no matter if there was no fight at all (Amon Sul), no matter if some monsters are invented (a troll in Moria?) or act like Alien (the monster outside the gate of Moria). You've got the bad people to deal with? Well, these people, of course, are bad-looking, with long nails, and live in dark, gothic towers, no matter if they are not known to be bad.
And I could go on. Cut some fighting scene, give more time to the Hobbiton-Rivendell trip, and you could have done a MUCH better film.
Change some actors, let's say Wood, Mortensen, Blanchett, Weaving (although they do their best), and you could have done a GREAT film. Go studying some filming, and some screenplay tricks, and you could have done a masterpiece.
Unfortunately, you did not. So the film is only good (8/10), with beautiful landscapes, a wonderful Balrog scene, an excellent realization of Moria, and a very good acting.
But it is not a masterpiece, sorry.