A little less than totally spectacular

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2004)

It was inevitable that the crew behind this trilogy would take some liberties with Tolkien's work and here they are.
I was frustrated with the movies journey into the appendices of Tolkien and slower pace than the first. A few elements were also seemingly unnecessary like Legolas's efficiency with the bow seems to change just for the sake of one scene. I mean, sure, war is unpredictable, but it could definitely been set up better. The story of Aragorn and Arwen is a prominent part of the film which is in the written trilogy's appendices and it seems to slow the movie down. Elrond speaks to Arwen for a long time in one scene, but his point can be reduced to one sentence. Also the movie doesn't catch up with the book, due to all the extra content, and ends well before the source.
But despite this, and a few other things, the movie is very well made. And it can be looked as not an adaptation of the books, but as an adaptation of Tolkien's vision of Middle Earth. That way, all the extra anecdotes don't seem so out of place. 8/10