Excellent film; only two gripes [spoilers]

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2002)

Everyone is going to say that the director (Peter Jackson) is a genius and so was the author of the books (J.R.R. Tolkien), so I'll just agree and spare anyone who reads this comment.
The epic battle at Helm's Deep was fantastic. The effects were excellent, especially Gollum, though Treebeard wasn't too shabby. Edoras, the golden hall in Rohan, was beautiful. This film looked just as good as the first one.
The acting was superb, especially Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom). King Theoden (Bernard Hill) was also wonderful.
My only two tiny problems were these. The fact that Faramir, the supposedly wise and pure-hearted brother of Boromir, was not actually that much of a better man. That kind of sucked. And what the devil was Haldir doing at Helm's Deep (and why the #^%$ did he die there?). I loved the books (too much perhaps), and that was a bit of a departure. I seem to recall Rangers (and the apparently missing sons of Elrond) joining Aragorn later, but why elves at Helm's Deep? I know the film can't be entirely true to the book, but eh ...
Everything else, including the huge part Arwen had and the fact they they didn't finish the book within the film, was just fine, and the film as a whole was thoroughly enjoyable. I will probably go and see it again ... and again.