too many plot lines, evil not menacing enough, bad computer graphics

Rating: 5/10 (4 December 2002)

Parts of this movie were exciting. But there were at least four big problems:
1) The movie follows three sets of characters: Frodo and his buddy; the humans who are attacked by the army of orcs; and two hobbits who are lost in the forest. Since these sets of characters have their own separate story lines throughout the movie, there are lots of jumps. And only one story line is any good: the humans battling against the orcs. Everything else is just distracting.
2) The first movie is good largely because the evil characters, especially the horsemen, are so believable and menacing. In this installment, the bad guys are laughable -- buffoonish orcs by the thousands, a crazy Christopher Lee stuck in a tower, etc.
3) The computer graphics in this movie just aren't very good. Golum is a great character but, whenever he comes onscreen, you can't help thinking, "hey, that guy's a cheesy computer graphic." The computer effects in the last scene involving torrents of water are like something out of a bad Godzilla movie.
4) As much as I like Sir Ian, his White Gandolf seems stoned in most of this movie.