Dump all the cynical critics, this movie's just great!

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2002)

Here in Belgium, lots of movie critics were not satisfied with this film. I don't know what they expected instead, maybe they're just prejudiced. Anyway, it's a must see. It's how the story had to continue to stay true to the book and at the same time be a compelling movie in itself. It's no longer a simple straightforward tale from North to south anymore, the plot thickens, the evil manifests itself more openly and despair grows. The careless Shire is long behind us, it's for real this time. The Aragorn-Arwen thing might be boring to some, but they're forgetting that their story formed a whole appendix in Tolkien's work, so it belongs in the major story. Besides, it explains the tough choice Arwen must make, just like any other character in the movie, they all have to realize the good old times will never return. But for me the best part in the whole movie was Gollum. Sweet, deceitful, tragic Gollum. You can't help feeling sorry for him. His voice, his expression, his dialogues with Smeagol, it all makes him one of the most complex and interesting characters of them all. It's just great how they created him, and developed his character so thoroughly in this piece of cinema with an over 30 man strong cast. And for anyone who dislikes it, I'd like to see YOU get those millions of dollars from the studios and make something better. This what you got, and it's worth every damn penny. Counting down from now till December 2003, with hopefully an excellent extended dvd version to keep us sweet in between.