Like eating chinese food, tastes great but leaves you hungry for more

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2003)

For someone that hasnt read the books, but loves the fantasy genre (can't wait for a Dragonlance adaptation) I am one of the few that geniunely didnt enjoy this film and trilogy. All 3 movies were well over 3 hours long and unfortunately for me... they felt like an eternity, and my distaste for these movies can be judged by the many bathroom breaks I was willing to take. Dont get me wrong, their were some great amazing sights and visuals and everyone that worked on this needs to get a pat on the back for getting this out 1 christmas after the next (Curse you Lucas) This film sorely missed Christopher Lee as a villan and made for a relatively boring and unwatchable first hour. Finally when the story picks up, it does so with a vengenace rarely seen. The massive battle scene was one for the ages comparable to Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. However what I felt lacking in this movie is what should have pulled it all together. Where was Aragon, Legolas and Gimli? while each had their hacks, none had any personal battles of note and yes, call me old fashioned but that lack of Villan here really... really... left me starving for something more. Gimli was left to shooting off tired jokes and Legolas... where was Legolas the entire film? It almost felt like he received the Christopher Lee treatment. Hardly any lines and his action scenes felt so scripted. Aragon provided his usual solid, unspectacular performance, when it really should have been him carrying this film. Gandalf... he was a wizard right? I spent the entire film wondering where all of his magic went. Frodo's quest like the rest of the movie started on life support, having the makings of following Two Towers and listening to Gollum, spout incoherable babble and Sam with his overprotective garble (I really miss the Ring Wraiths). However there is finally a twist, and the spider scene is so exceptionally well done and finally we got to see an end to the ring. Everyone survives and lives out their lives... happily ever after. Despite its many well done scenes, Peter Jackson has failed to glue it all together. Much like Lucas recently, he finds himself with so much material and lacking the courage to adapt the storyline to something watchable, as opposed to the books story. For an avid movie goer this definately makes the top 5 in trilogy history, but will not even approach the Starwars or Godfather's perfection. 7.5/10 like good chinese food, this film tastes good but will leave you hungry for more.