Excellent!!!

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2002)

What do I need to say? Director Peter Jackson has done a brilliant work with this one. I was totally surprised and didn't realize how time passed. It was simply captivating. Once again the actors do a fine job, although I did get a bit of the feeling that too many important dialogues were skipped/cut for the sake of more action-based sequences. Which, of course didn't make the movie bad as a whole, but I've read the books time and again, and I've missed many nice parts that simply didn't make it into the film. Character Highlights? Gollum: Amazing acting. Eomer: Small role but very expressive. Eowyn: She came alive straight from the book's pages. Aragorn: Excellent! He takes a leading role in this one does lots of good acting. Gimli was very humorous, but he kinda starts looking as a comic-relief character, and although that probably makes him popular, it's quite inaccurate as to his part in the deeds of the Fellowship, and I wouldn't find myself laughing in the third film if he keeps tripping, falling, and doing all those funny acrobatics, or dimwitted quotes. (That is: very nice so far, but I've had enough of this "laugh-at-the-dwarf" thing) Legolas is portrayed a bit differently as what in the books. But does all those cool acrobatics, that really add a bit into the excitement. Theoden I found perfect (he's one of my favorite characters in the book) (although I expected a more white-haired, long-bearded version in appearance). Grima was also very well acted-for. And of course Treebeard is just perfect. Unfortunately Gandalf, seems to be a bit decorative, and the film loses perspective IMO as to his role in this part of the trilogy, which one could have said is actually central. Saruman has only a few lines, and we don't get to see much of him. And finally, My big disappointment: Faramir. That's just not the Faramir from the book. Reminds of him sometimes, but some key things (that actually help the film greatly) weighed heavily IMO on his role in the story. Still, the film (apart from the book) is excellent, brilliant and the work done is very rewarding to the audience. An excellent film! Just (all you LoTR fans out there) don't get too stuck in the "it's in the book/ it's not in the book" thing.