Well...

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2003)

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy TTT, but it is nowhere near "The greatest flick of all time" as some have perceived it to be. Here's why.
Why does it have to clock in at three hours plus? It's difficult to keep this guy enthused for what's, and let us be frank here, basically an action movie within a fantasy setting. Action scene after action scene and very s l o w bits in the middle disguised at character building. Even the climactic Battle at Helm's Deep, although finely executed, felt overlong in my book, a prime example of more being less. Films like Traffic and Magnolia require a three hour running time because these are complex character driven stories. TTT does not.Why non-fantasy buffs are looking forward to the four hour DVD extravaganza baffles me.
The whole interweaving of plotlines that culminate in a grand finale, read: Star Wars,type of storytelling that is so pervasive in movies these days defies logic in this one. Are we to believe that Merry and Pippin are hopping along on this three for what must be a week? Come to think of it, Merry and Pippin were as pointless in the film as they were in the books. Nothing to do but to sit on Treebeard and express but one emotion, the "wide-eyed look of amazement".
The Romance. One word. Forced. In there to keep the chicks happy too. And if Aragorn doesn't have enough troubles on his mind, why with fighting an assorted lot of Uruk-Hai, Wargs and Trolls and all, we just throw in an extra love-element for good measure.
And finally, the film reeks of self-importance. That's why the Indiana Jones Trilogy is miles above LOTR in my book. Jones acknowledges that it's entertainment. It's doesn't take itself too serious. It winks at the audience saying " Come on, we're entertaining you so don't bemoan the flaws and errors in logic" and as a result you don't. This baby has *art* smeared all over it's smug face. Well it's not art, it's longhaired guys battling guys in rubber masks.