The characters are the story

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2002)

Spoiler Alert!! As a diehard Tolkien fan I know that my standards are a tad high, and I've kept that in mind while watching these movies, but Peter Jackson has gone too far. Skewing the plot a bit, leaving sections out, changing some of the details of the story, all of these are completely acceptable to me. I know the movies can't be exactly like the books. But Jackson has changed the attitudes, perceptions, and the feelings of Tolkien's characters to the point where they are no longer recognizable to me. The characters that Tolkien created in his books are most of what makes this story so great. Change the plot, skip some sections, add more action, I don't care! But please please please don't destroy these characters!!!

Things that were not right at all: Elrond has been portrayed in these movies as an angry, somewhat overbearing father who has a resentment for non-elves . . . men in particular. Anyone who's read the books ONCE knows that this isn't true. Elrond was always a wise loremaster, kind in disposition, and grim only to his enemies. Aragorn was all but a son to him, as Aragorn basically grew up in Rivendell. He never forbade the love between Aragorn and Arwen, he only told Aragorn that he would not give his blessing until Aragorn had achieved his kingdom.
Theoden started off well, but after Gandalf released him from Saruman's spell, Theoden continued to act almost belligerent towards Aragorn and Gandalf. Again, this goes completely against the original character. An argument here or there would have been ok, but they made him almost seem cowardly, at least until the very end of the battle at Helm's Deep. Theoden, in the books, was still an old man when Gandalf released him, but he was eager for battle with Saruman. Yes he encountered difficulties and nearly was defeated at Helm's Deep, but he was never afraid or even ill-tempered. Grim, determined, and full of spirit is how I would describe Theoden.
Faramir was an absolute failure in my opinion. In the books he is seen as a grim captain who, although younger and less esteemed than his brother Boromir, had a greater wisdom. He never coveted the Ring and did what he could to help Frodo. Yes he was suspicious of Frodo and Sam at first, and likewise they were fearful of him, especially when they learned he was Boromir's brother. But neither Faramir nor anyone in his company was ever seduced by the Ring.

Things that were not quite right: I think they did Eowyn an injustice by making her pine so much for Aragorn. The most prominent thing about her character is her will to fight. Basically they gave her one small dialogue to explain that in her heart she was a warrior, and then for the rest of the movie they made her swoon over Aragorn. I believe that they could fix this in Return of the King, but based on what I've seen thus far they probably won't.
I was a little disappointed with the ents and Treebeard's unwillingness to fight, but I suppose that Peter Jackson wanted to work on Merry and Pippin more. It did not go against character for Merry and Pip to encourage the ents to go to war. This didn't happen in the books, but I can understand Jackson's development of Merry and Pip over Treebeard. At any rate, they all came through fairly well by the end of the movie.

Things that were right: I do want to congratulate Jackson on the portrayal of Gandalf in The Two Towers. No real complaints there. On a sidenote, Shadowfax was a dark horse, not white. I know I know, minor detail. Shadowfax is a character of his own though and I feel that he deserves some mention.
Bar none, the thing that stands out as the biggest success in this movie is the portrayal of Frodo, Sam and Smeagol/Gollum. The interaction of these 3(4) was all but perfect. The Ring's increasing hold on Frodo and how that plays into his relationships with Sam and Smeagol took some good acting from Elijah Wood and he delivered. I was even more impressed with Sean Astin's performance. He played the ever-devoted Sam to perfection and his suspicion of Gollum was right on.
The truly astounding thing was Gollum and the emerging Smeagol. CG rendering aside, this character was a work of art. The way the 2 personalities emerged and interacted was incredible. Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar. Not only did he do the voice acting but he modeled the animation of the character as well. I'd be hard pressed to find another performance that was so true to the character.
Well I've already taken way too long. I wanted this to be a short review. So here it is in a nutshell. On its own this is a great film. Wonderful acting, superb effects, and a mesmerizing world. Beware though, you are not seeing The Two Towers that Tolkien wrote, too much has been done to change the characters. I think many fans of the books will feel betrayed by this movie, despite the success of many of the individual performances.