Not as good as people wants to believe it is

Rating: 6/10 (12 January 2005)

Why is this movie so high in the IMDb rating ? Well, I guess, many people did (and still do) not want to see the project of one of the greatest book put on screen going lower than the top 10 spot. However, when you put aside the gigantism of the project, the special effects and the book itself (otherwise said: when you will watch it on a small TV screen 3 years from now) then some of the magic of this movie vanish. Acting is one the main critics we can make. Vigo Mortensen has not enough Charisma to be a "king". He looks most of the time like a dummy fallen from the planet Mars not knowing what to do. Every major movies have one or more strong and Charismatic actors: i.e. Al Pacino (with Robert and Marlon) in the godfather series, Henry Fonda in Once upon a time in the west, Jack Nicholson in one flew over a cuckoo' nest, etc...
In the Lord of the ring series, I do not believe there is one actor up to that level of excellence. Sean Austin is badly crying for the all movie. You can see when Peter Jackson told Ian McKellen to smile in front of the camera (ready to smile Ian, aaaand action...1 second, 2 sec., 3 sec. Cuuut. OK thanks Ian Next scene please quick) . That's maybe the reason, Peter Jackson wanted to be so close from the book and had so many things to shoot that he did not leave actors a chance the really enter into their characters.
Than let's talk about the end. That part really ruined the movie. I had the impression we were in a Santa Barbara episode. Everything was beautiful and blurry in slow motion and nothing is really happening for a least the last 20 minutes. That was a bad ending for an overall decent and entertaining movie.
7/10 for Peter Jackson who had a lot of courage anyway. But I guess it is the same for every filmmaker.
Overall it is a decent movie.