Gob-smackingly brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2002)

It's hard to be objective when you've been waiting for a film for a year. Now I've seen it, I am not disappointed.
(Watch out - SPOILERS coming up...)
Firstly, Gollum is *excellent*. The star of the show, IMHO. He's so far from being the cartoon character that was Jar Jar Binks, and just the wrong side of human. His schizophrenic battle with himself on whether or not he should help Frodo was riveting.
With three storylines, the editing was always going to be tricky, but it just about works - just. A bit more of a gentle lead-in as each "strand" changed would have been a little less confusing. But this is nit-picking.
A couple of new scenes have been added that are not in the book, presumably to allow the characters in the scene more screen-space. Given that one of those characters is Arwen (Liv Tyler), you won't get any complaints from me!
Gimli certainly got all the laughs this time. I've read someone else describe this humour as "much needed" in the film, but I'm not so sure - it seems to jar slightly with what's going on in the rest of the scene.
This film really is on a biblical scale - think Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. I can only hope Mr Jackson and his crew get their just rewards come Oscar time. Perhaps this year, we might have a Best Film worthy of the award...?