Could have been better. Should have been better...

Rating: 6/10 (27 August 2003)

I believe anyone who read Tolkien's masterpiece will be disappointed with this second installment of the trilogy. If you haven't read the book though, then this movie may be pure entertainment.
Why I don't like this movie? First of all it is not completely true to the story (you can very well argue it doesn't have to be), and unfortunately the additions made by Jackson and his screenwriters consist of childish, cliche scenes or dialogues. The new lines sound like they have been written by Kevin Costner rather than Tolkien.
The action scenes are exaggerated and overacted (with Legolas surfing down the stairs on a shield while firing arrows etc etc). The characters are all the time overcome with emotion, which toward the end of the movie makes you sick (Why is Frodo on the verge of tears all the time? Why does everybody hug and cast meaningful glances at each other every other minute?).
The background music gets to my nerves after the first hour. There should be a substitute to this Nordic chorus singing at extremely high pitch whenever something grave happens.
And then, back again the changes in the story are unforgivable for someone who loves the book. The removal of some parts of the story is, of course, necessary. But fiddling with characters (Oh Faramir!) is not.
What you have is a Hollywood blockbuster based on a great book. I guess it could have been worse, which is the only good thing I have to say about this movie.