Horn O' Plenty

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2002)

This movie is beefy. I loved it but I will have to see it again before I can provide an accurate rating. I can say this though: Gollum was amazing! I had some reservations about him due to my dislike for all digital actors (first and foremost being Jar Jar Binks) but the second he showed up on screen I was won over. But even though Gollum was seamless I was less impressed by the effects in general. The blue screening Of Merry and Pippin in the Fangorn Forest was very shoddy, as was the Nazgul over the Dead Marshes. Effects wise, it was more ambitious than The Fellowship of the Ring, so it was inevitable that the cracks were going to show through. There has been a lot of talk about Peter Jackson taking liberties with the story, and as far as I am concerned, it makes for a better film going experience. Where he has given the hobbits short shrift, and emphasized the darker aspects of the story, he has made several improvements over Tolkein, including: A) The corruptive power of the Ring; B) The duality of Gollum; and C) the character of Aragorn. In the books, Aragorn is initially one of the more appealing characters but as the story progresses he becomes increasingly long winded and regal to a fault. In the films, he is infinitely more interesting as he makes the transition from rogue to king. I am intrigued by him every step of the way. It is a thing of beauty that one of my favorite books is becoming the greatest pop fantasy to ever hit the screen.