Lord of the Strings

Rating: 4/10 (27 December 2001)

Bear in mind this factor as you read this review: I haven't read the books, so you know I'm judging this purely as a movie, unbiased by the book.
The Good: set design; costume design; computer graphics; some acting - Viggo Mortensen.
The Average: most of the acting; direction - nothing fresh.
The Bad: musical scoring - generic in one word, not a single memorable piece; some acting - Sean Bean (his whimpering scene when Frodo runs away from him was truly a pathetic attempt, and not the kind of pathetic it should have been); plot holes - like how did Gandalf get his staff back?; cheesy Tucan Sam impersonation by Gandalf - "just follow your nose!"; some underused effects - wizardry should have packed much more of a punch with this movie's blockbuster budget, but instead it was mostly something I could have done by having my actors fall down; the scene with the slow-motion effect of pouring water into the mirror didn't have that magical feeling to it that I felt it was trying to accomplish, for instance, it wasn't as good as Anij's time-slowing effect in Star Trek: Insurrection; the movie is not very accessible to people who've not read the books - no closure.
This movie was a great exercise in corporate marionette operations, hence my summary: Lord of the Strings. All I can give this movie is 4/10.