A Tolkien fan gives credit despite disappointments with changes.

Rating: Null/10 (9 January 2003)

Let me first say that I am a fan of the author, J.R.R. Tolkien. I am not a fanatic who memorizes Elven languages or hobbit genealogies, I am a fan of Tolkien and his brilliant works including `The Lord of the Rings'. I feel that in coming decades and centuries it is quite likely Tolkien will be considered a giant of English Literature rivaled only by Dickens and Shakespeare. At the least Tolkien will be remembered as one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century. Although I don't feel any of the artists who worked on this production come anywhere near Tolkien in creative genius (Peter Jackson included), I do give credit to the movies for turning on a whole generation to Tolkien's written works. Additionally, I don't care what the reason is (whether someone has a crush on Elijah Wood or Orlando Bloom, enjoyed the movie making from a technology standpoint or any other reason) I am grateful to the movie for creating great new enthusiasm for the author's works. Whether Tolkien would have accepted Peter Jackson's interpretation or not is beyond my knowledge and beyond my realm of speculation. I can only comment about what I felt. Here it is:
First, I must say that I found many of the changes in the movie annoying and sometimes unnecessary. Yet I only found a few of these changes very disturbing. One of the reasons for this is that most of these changes weren't done in way that was too distracting. For instance, I thought that it was very annoying and completely unnecessary that Elrond sent Elves to fight at Helm's Deep. The elves filed in very quickly and so it did not become too distracting.
However, the part where Elrond and Arwen discuss her relationship with Aragorn and the Elves possible role in the wars of men disturbing and poorly written. This was the case with much of the dialogue in the movie in which direct quotes were not pulled from the work. Also, some of the dialogue between Merry and Treebeard was ridiculous especially when he and Pippin trick Treebeard into going towards Isengard. The old Ent said something to the effect of `It's nice to go south now and then' or something very much like that. Any true fan of Tolkien had to cringe at this.
Every bit as uncomfortable was Frodo's pep talk with Gollum/Smeagol. While this was somewhat necessary in fairness to the author's intent it is poorly written for the movie. Frodo: `You were not unlike a hobbit at one time'. Blagh! Then at the end of the movie, Gandalf's character leads us into the next movie. To paraphrase: `Now begins the battle of Middle Earth'. This was simply awful.
I was also annoyed with the attack by the Orcs on Wargs on the way to Helm's Deep which led to Aragorn's temporary fall. It was not need and his return was unbelievably predictable to anyone who read the books. Imagine doing `The Return of the King' without the king! Still this was only mildly annoying and I did not find it too distracting. Yet wouldn't it have been better to have used that time later in the movie and had Gandalf expel Saruman from the order?! One other note: Gimli's character becoming a focus for humor really didn't bother me much, but the line in which Gimli tells Legolas that he picked the wrong place to stand when the battle at Helm's Deep was about to begin was perhaps the most INANE line in the whole movie.
Although I didn't like all the changes in the plot and I thought some of the screenplay was below standard, the acting and the casting were both superb. Ian McKellan was terrific as Gandalf, as was Brad Dourif as Wormtongue, David Wenham as Faramir and Bernard Hill as Theoden. I give Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortenson good ratings. The only cast members I really didn't like were Dominic Monaghan and Sean Astin. I do realize, however, how difficult it must have been to cast the hobbits. I thought Liv Tyler was good as Arwen, I just thought the character was overdone.
Miranda Otto was perfect (and perfectly cast) as Eowyn. She was fabulous in portraying both inner and outer beauty. I'm quite sure I would not have been at all happy if this part was not well cast or acted. I just hope that in the final installment, Eowyn's character gets the glory intended for it. If not, I think it will completely ruin most of the good feelings I have for these movies.
It was smart to go back and forth to Frodo and Sam's struggles. It would have been terribly boring on film to watch their quest for the Black Gate let by Gollum if had been done in one long stretch. I also like the pace of the movie. NOTHING DRAGGED.
Having said all of this as someone with a huge amount of respect for the creator of Middle Earth and all its characters, I also must point out that I feel overall this was an extremely entertaining movie, not despite Peter Jackson and his crew, but because of it. As well as the overall acting, the settings, the costumes, and the action in the movie were all done in a first class manner and I found the movie exciting. As I mentioned in great detail my dissatisfactions with the movie, I realize that putting this work into movie form was a monumental task and I give Mr. Jackson a great deal of credit for putting together a first class project depicting J.R.R. Tolkien's works and adding millions of moviegoers to the ever growing collection of Tolkien's readers!