Such a disappointing journey

Rating: 4/10 (10 September 2004)

Considering the hype, box office numbers, Oscars and everything else, the Lord of the Rings trilogy has been for a lot of people the highlight of film making these last couple of years. And even without very much liking it, as a person who did not read the books and though I feel that everybody was just overdoing it, I must congratulate Peter Jackson and his team of cast and crew by accomplishing just that. Maybe, when things cool down a bit and other projects take their place in the spotlights, I can honestly get over the fact that all those people who think this is how movies should be, clearly outnumber the people like myself who see it as a good, but ultimately failed attempt on producing a wonderful trilogy from a no doubt inspiring book.
Peter Jackson did not have an easy job by filming the trilogy, and I will give you an example on how to work with a silly part of the trilogy (I at least assume that the next passage is in the book somewhere as well). It's when Frodo is attacked by the huge spider, and taken to a castle of the orks (or similar nasty creatures).
In the next scene, we see how 2 orks get into a fight over I think a piece of clothing. Everybody (that is, the other orks) have their say in it and a huge brawl starts. So when Sam comes to the castle to save his master Frodo, he finds thousands of Orks dead on the ground, only having to kill about 4 of them before getting to the top of the tower, where Frodo is held.
Now, in any other movie that takes itself remotely serious, these events would be laughable, ridiculous, the movie would be slammed for it. But here comes the nice part: because it is 'in the book', Jackson gets away with these silly little facts. As he got away with the fact that the whole and entire army of Sauron go on and take on the army, not one noticing the two little hobbits and the creature called Gollem. And there are other examples, like the death and rise (apparently) from Gandalf in part 2, the oh-so easy defeat of Saruman when some silly looking trees come to action... the plot holes are endless.
I will be clear: because of above reasons (amongst others), I do not think highly of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It started out with the rather boring Fellowship, went on with the loud but ultimately silly Two Towers, and ended with the incredibly disappointing and not satisfying Return of the King, the least of the three. It's too long, with lulls everywhere and a complete lack of decent acting because of the overuse of CGI. It's boring, silly and not to be taken seriously. It's, in one word, a drag, in particular for people who did not read the books, or didn't take much fun into them.
So, in the end, there's a trilogy here that has ruled the box office and that special night somewhere in february nowadays, but I am not convinced one bit. And somehow I don't think I will be any time in the future...
As for Return of the King: 4/10.