Disappointing at best

Rating: 2/10 (19 December 2002)

One year ago, I thought FOTR got bashed too easily while it was actually a very decent flick anyone could enjoy. This one doesn't achieve anything at all. Hardcore Tolkien fans (or anyone who's actually read the book) will be very frustrated to see the appaling rewriting job done here while newcomers will just be confused.
Seeing the good rates this movie gets, I can only guess most viewers were stunned by the visual effects and they were right to be. _Most_ effects are great (the sheer scale of the armies is incredible) but on the other hand, you get very poor inserts, Gandalf's beard is almost falling off at times and I'm not sure I want to comment Theoden's metamorphosis.
Character development is virtually non existent since most characters are defined by one dumb catch phrase and idiotic exposition ruins some potentially great scenes. A few characters are still very nice, such as Gollum (the only reason I didn't give 1 to this movie), Eowyn or Sam. But Eomer's sorely lacking and don't even ask me what Arwen is doing in this movie (or why Haldir shows up at helm's deep). The writing choices made here are a real betrayal to Tolkien's work (I'm not talking about cosmetic stuff like some minor missing scenes from FOTR but about some really deep changes made to the characters and events).
The greatest flaw of this movie is its definite lack of structure: there's no real beginning nor ending, it needs the 2 other movies to stand. I think that's a really poor choice, deciding to cast aside potential viewers who didn't see the first flick.
Would I recommend it to people? No. Would I tell them not to see it? Neither, because that's the kind of movie where everyone gets lunatic and so, you'll have to make up your own opinion but as far as I'm concerned, it falls short of being one of the most boring movies ever.