Atrocious from beginning to end (SPOILERS)

Rating: 1/10 (24 December 2001)

This review contains SPOILERS
All qualities of the book were sacrificed for the sake of an action film full of cheap plot devices, gratuitous and often illogical story changes, and poor characterization. The scenery was actually great, if the camera would ever stop whirling around long enough to allow it to be enjoyed. I appreciate a sweeping camera move judiciously used to set off a dramatic vista, but that device was done to death. The action scenes are such a blitz of brief incoherent cuts that they were hard to watch. The lighting is frequently peculiar, for example everyone in Rivendell looked waxy and sallow. Then there is the music. I am afraid the composer has watched Conan the Barbarian a few two many times. Operatic choir music = bad guys, every time you see them. Yuk! Those are just the minor flaws in this piece of trash.
The endless action cliches and cheap devices left me groaning at such a ham-handed treatment of Tolkien. From the sacrifice of Sam, Merry, and Pippin's characters for the sake of comedy, to the crumbling staircase in Moria, to the silly wizard battle between Gandalf and Saruman (complete with the dive off the tower, only to be caught by the eagle ploy). All of this was invented by Peter Jackson, as if the book does not provide enough exciting events to draw upon. It is a long book, and clearly cuts had to be made for a manageable movie. But to expend precious minutes on protracted combats and repetitious detail of Isengard, while leaving out important story and character development is truly sad. In fact, Jackson goes so far as to drag material belonging to The Two Towers (the shortest of the three books) into this movie (which is the longest of the three books).
Many of these changes do nothing for the story, sometimes even weaken it. In the books Saruman is in it for himself, believing himself to be the one person who could stand up to Sauron, if only he had the ring. His view of things has been warped by Sauron's subtle control of what he sees through the Palantir. This is much more interesting than Saruman as the avowed lackey of Sauron. The former case makes sense of the treatment Saruman gets at the end of The Two Towers, while the later does not!
The combat and action should have been brief, intense, and significant. In the book none of the combat with Boromir defending Merry and Pippin is seen, just the tragic result. The battle in Balin's tomb takes up 1 page out of 400. It is short, fierce, and to the point. The incident of Frodo turning out to be okay after being speared is actually rather funny in the book. In the movie this is blown so far out of proportion I thought I would gag. It is turned into the worst of manipulative `character is killed, oh no they are okay' scenes. And for those long minutes (and many others like them) they sacrificed the Barrow Downs? Frodo's `Cow Jumped Over the Moon' table dance? The hobbits actually getting to know and trust Strider on the way to Rivendell?
The worst part is the butchery of the characters. Legolas loses his light-hearted singing nature. Gimli is a caricature from a bad D&D game, replete with Irish brogue. Absent was their caustic interaction and the development of their friendship, one of the hallmarks of the books. Hobbits go from the stealthy nimble people of the books to bumbling comic relief. In the book Sam is clever, loves all things elven, knows old ballads. In the movie he is just dumb and loyal. In the movie Merry and Pippin are turned into witless juvenile troublemakers sucked into the quest willy nilly, instead of dedicated friends conspiring with Sam to go on the quest to support Frodo. And Frodo's own strongest moment, when he defies the Nazgul at the river, is taken away, leaving him just a helpless victim dragged along. And finally, back to that ending battle: where is Aragorn's poignant agony watching the Fellowship fall apart under his leadership? And his tortured choice over which way to go? He doesn't have to make it, because the movie adds a scene between Frodo and him settling the matter.
Then there are `the bad guys'. We can start with Sauron in the beginning. He looks like some sort of battle droid transformer monster. What is that?! He is a wizard, and in the history of Middle Earth is most famous for his guile and lies, not being a walking tank. The orcs: of course they are supposed to be scary and nasty. But they are in fact a people. It is clear throughout the books that they are more than beasts. Much of the beginning of The Two Towers hinges on their own politics and personalities, as do the events in Cirith Ungol in The Return of the King. But what we see in the movie are almost-zombies who hiss and growl and grunt a word or two. The biggest problem with all of the evil portrayed in the film is the complete lack of subtlety or mystery. It's all shown in full special effects glory, rather than hinted at as in the books. Have I been frightened at movies? Plenty of times. Was I ever frightened during this one? Never.
In fact, that is the big flaw in all of this. Peter Jackson has no sense of subtlety. Everything is explicit and obvious and the viewer is clubbed over the head with it. The movie is informed less by the books than by the stereotype-ridden gaming genre that came out of it. If the movie I saw was in turn novelized, the result would be just one more derivative hack and slash novel that would be forgotten a couple of years after publication.