Overcooked, Overstylized, and Overrated

Rating: 5/10 (27 December 2010)

I remember not being too impressed with "The Fellowship of the Ring", although in hindsight, it's quite a bit better than it's bloated and all-over-the-place sequels. On recent rewatch, my original feelings were validated. General Observations: First of all without Ian Mckellan, this trilogy would've been completely deep-sunk; Mckellan's performance single-handedly saves scene after scene that he is cast in. Despite that, Peter Jackson bombards with music of grandeur left and right. Directors in general need to understand oversaturation and it's pitfalls - all of the Lord of the Rings movies drown in choirs or orchestra music. Do we need to have maximum audio for every single frame? It's over-indulgence in audio - it's trying to smear meaning on every image, and it creates a phony feeling. Likewise, the imagery in this movie is hit and miss. Costuming is more-or-less competent, but the CGI is less so. Running around in the Mines of Moria (sp?) you get a feeling of cut-outs. Realize that the dialog comes from a book, but you don't have to be supremely faithful to source material - some of the actors have with difficulty with the locution of the dialog. Anyway, don't think I wantto rewatch and review the sequels - it'd be a waste of time. This trilogy is overrated.