Gets on my nerves.

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2003)

I am a big fan of LotR, at least, I was after the two first films. I started reading the book and made it until ca. 75%. The problem for me is that both the film and the book did not deliver what they promised with the first two thirds.
The Fellowship was great: interesting characters, interesting peoples, great landscapes, a great task to fulfill.
Two Towers increased the pace, there was a great villain (Saruman) with all his machinery and yet he wasn't the main Evil. He messed with Mother Nature and that was never a good thing to do and caused his demise. Hey, the old 80's green message which is still topic.
And we had Frodo on his journey becoming changed by the Ring. And the interesting schizo Smeagol/Gollum character. And Sam, the loving caring guy who stands for the right thing to do, for friendship and the good things worth fighting for.
Interesting, great story.
But the third part never fulfilled the promise. Both Tolkien and Jackson failed to conclude this great story adequately.
Start with the villain: Sauron never entered the stage. Neither in person, nor as ghost. He just sent out more of the things we've already seen before. He did not even notice the Ring was entering his country. The Nazgul king was a poor substitute. We never saw Barad-dur other than from far. And at the end, oops, it crashed. That was a very poor view compared to the defeat of Isengard.
Continue with the voyage: Frodo was approaching Mordor, yet Sauron's knights got him totally out of sight. Weren't they supposed to chase him even more close than in 1 and 2? But no, it was Gollum who posed the danger. Frodo never was more secure than in Mordor after Gollum left.

And Gollum: Even his two personalities were schizo. Why are they always referring to themselves as "us", even when Smeagol talks to Gollum? Why are the calling each other, the ring, and even Sam "my precious" ? Just confusing what the good side of the creature is.
Frodo himself never showed any influence by the ring, other than it became "heavier" (but Frodo's worsening condition could also come from the journey stress. BTW - the "fat hobbit" turns out to be rather sporty!). At the end, Frodo rushes upwards Mount Doom only to refuse letting the ring go. Not very believable, not very consistent. The slow but ongoing change in his character that was developed in the first two films was totally dropped in 3.
Other than disturbance by Gollum, the journey was pretty straightforward. Was the Ring sleeping? In the first parts it was doing everything to get back to its Master, but it could not make itself noticed whan it was directly in front of Sauron's eye?
And Sauron was stupid enough to a) not guard the Mount of Doom and b) start the war before the ring was in his hands.
The only good things were the battles.
The rest of the film was all too much crying and slow-motion and having feelings for each other. Can't see Sam full of tears and Frodo's wide-opened eyes anymore. Can't hear the kings' pathetic speeches anymore. Can't see Arwen in soft-focus and hear her whispering nonsense anymore. Eowyn is a much cooler and prettier character. I also wish there had been more Gimli and Legolas. The film bored me the second time I saw it which never happened with the first two.
I give it a 7/10 while the others were 9/10.