Hopefully an extended DVD edition will improve upon the flaws...

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2002)

...mainly that characters took a back seat to action and special effects to the follow up. Not once in this film did I get involved with the plight of any human characters in this film unlike the first one which provided ample characterization. Its almost like every critic who said that Fellowship was too long and boring was listened to. Action was piled upon action upon action leaving scenes like Theoden crying over the grave of his recently dead son, or Wormtongue's obsession of Eoeowyn unexamined. Scenes like Legolas predicting doom at Helms Deep or the death of Haldir amongst the fallen elves had little of the impact that it should have had. Even Christopher Lee who was very effective in FOTR was given little if nothing to do in this film. The only character I had any interest in watching was the CGI Gollum who with the combination of Andy Serkis's performance, writing, and computer wizardry turned out to be the best actor in the movie. Just watch the Spiderman like scene where he argues with himself over betraying Sam and Frodo, or the one after he is captured by Faramir and try to tell me any of the characters showed that much depth. I didn't see any. If Jackson is smart he will provide a different extended cut which builds upon the characters instead of the action sequences. Well to take a breath from my complaints, I still did enjoy the film. There is a lot of good action to be had throughout the film, including the use of Warg riders of Isengard, and the eventual attack upon Helms Deep. Of special note is the use of Gimli who effectively lightened the procedings just a bit, with some injection of humor. The visuals are still spectacular, with the attack on Isengard by the Ents a standout, or of course thousands of types of Uruk-Hai and Orks that are sent from Isengard, with special mention of the towering Oliphaunts who carry giant fortresses on their backs. The camerawork by Andrew Lesnie still impresses me. While the score is good, not as great and memorable as the first one. And the acting is generally good throughout with new standouts being Bernard Hill(Still the most overlooked actor in Titanic) and a particularly slimy turn from Brad Dourif as Wormtongue. One more small complaint, is anyone else tired of seeing huge amazing action sequences intercut with the most boring scenes imaginable. I hated it in Attack of The Clones, and even more so here since they cut back and forth with the confrence of the Ents. Thats a good idea wasn't it; huge dramatic battle, then a meeting between tree, back to huge amazing battle. And did anyone else kind of laugh( even thogh I guess they did show Rohan's hopelessness against Isengard ) the scenes where young boys no younger than eleven readying for battle against the six foot tall, massively buitlt uruk-hai. Now thats an action sequence I wouldn't want to see.