Not at all what I expected, on two counts.

Rating: 6/10 (13 September 2005)

This second installment, from a production standpoint, was far ahead of Fellowship of the Rings visually. The effects had a much more tangible, polished feel to them. The story also carried less "pomp" to it, less feeling of faked excitementthe "look at us we're excited and pumped and you should be too no, really" effect. That being said, I could not escape the injury done to Faramir, whose character had a solid nobility that lent so much to the Faramir/Boromir and father storyline. Without it, nearly a sixth of the storyline loses its solidity of purpose, and is an excellent example of how to cheapen the power of powerful stories.
I could live with splitting the books at different moments (though it meant I felt like I was gypped at the end), and I could even see the appeal of diverting Frodo's quest, but cheapening Faramir's character for a conveniently timed "emotional moment" between Sam and Frodo just left me feeling like I'd been used like a cheap date.