Good, but not great (spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (24 December 2003)

Everyone is gushing about this film, and mostly for good reasons. It's the crowning film of one of the best trilogies ever filmed. It appeals to tons of people because it's based on a timeless story, it's well acted, it's filmed beautifully, and the effects don't overwhelm it like they would a Lucas effort.
That said, it's far from a perfect film, and to me, not even the best of the three (I find The Two Towers to be the most consistent of the three). It is not just the oft-repeated idea that the ending is far too long (it kind of is, but probably wouldn't seem to drag on so long if not for the tons of material cut out of the start and the middle of the film), but rather for the really uneven pacing of the film. It seems 2/3 of the time is spent with Frodo and Samwise crawling up to Shelob and then only five minutes going across Mordor towards Mount Doom. This is very odd to me, as if getting passed Cirith Ungol was the real feat, not the trek across the waterless, foodless plain. The Army of the Dead was one of the most amazing aspects of the film, but they appear abruptly and disappear almost as quickly, making them a passing rather than a salient point of the battle. And, of course, there are the elements the purists complain about, which I found would have really aided in the storytelling: Denethor's corruption by Sauron and the breaking of Saruman's hold after the battle with the ents would have smoothed it out a ton, and they could have kept the length failry the same by editing out some other parts. Arwen, for example, was basically unnecessary as the story unfolded--leave her out; if the scouring of the Shire is unnecessary, why do we even need to go back at all, when they could just head to the ships and end it there, or even better, just end it at the ceremony on top of Minas Tirith? I know there was an effort to keep it as true to the book, but I think Jackson made some basic errors in storytelling that keeps it far from the ranks of a ten, much like the problems with The Hulk earlier in the year.
Good, but not great. 6/10