Orcs Galore!

Rating: 4/10 (22 December 2004)

If this is the 2nd best movie of all time, then I must have been taking crazy pills when I saw it. It was perfectly serviceable as a kid's story and the visuals were superb. But the last 35 minutes were a complete waste of everyone's time and all of the acting was mediocre at best. Viggo Mortenson probably deserves some credit for giving the only performance that doesn't stray off into melodrama or rote, wooden "mailing it in".
I saw the first film in the theaters and nearly fell asleep. I saw the second leg in a drinking theater and was mildly entertained. (The beer helped, a lot.) I saw the 3rd one in the comfort of my own home and had to pause for naps twice. Maybe the sheer grandeur of the CGI-fest would have grabbed me more in a theater setting, but nothing could make up for this plodding, predictable plot.