A few things overlooked

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2004)

Well, I think I said in my review of TTT that I was afraid that Jackson and company wouldn't be able to fit in all that was left. Now, though I have not seen the extended cut (longer than the cut of _Napoleon_, I believe!), it looks like they added much of it back there.
As a Tolkien geek of 30+ years I was greatly impressed by these films even though I miss much of the subtlety of the book itself. However, that subtlety is not entirely lost; instead, it is often taken up in the acting. Bernard Hill and Miranda Otto actually make *more* of their characters than the books do. All of the Hobbits are fine, Andy Serkis is better than fine, and Ian Holm, bless him, gives all the young ones lessons in sly scene stealing. Ian McKellen is a bit too subdued at times, but when he hits the mark he's very powerful. Elves are basically impossible to play, but all of the actors in those roles do well even if Orlando Bloom is a bit callow.
The revelation throughout all three films, though, is Viggo Mortensen. I hated him immediately upon his entrance in the first film, then quickly started to reassess as the film moved on. I quickly realized that he managed to hit every single one of even the deepest notes of the character, a man who is not only skilled beyond his first appearance but whose nature as a hero and a king is based in millennia of history and inheritance. It is an amazing performance, one of the best I have ever seen, and so strong that even though the end of the film was naturally without him I missed his character, just as I do every time I read the book.
So, enjoy the CGI. But watch the acting - that's where you'll get the depth of the tale.