Breathtaking

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2002)

Once again Peter Jackson manages the not-inconsiderable feat of making 3+ hours pass in the blink of an eye. Before I go all googly-eyed over this film, the few negatives must be got out of the way:
Still too many extreme close-ups and flash cuts in the battle scenes which don't really communicate anything besides the general impression of violence and aggression that is already brought forth by the build ups (one of this films and the predecessor's great strengths BTW).
Aragorn and Gimli's continual hurling of themselves on swathes of orcs and each time coming out unscathed. It does become a tad ridiculous after a while.
The lack of the enormous female spider which I was expecting to turn up...this would have been one of my most anticipated moments, but I guess I'm gonna have to wait another year because the dividers between books two and three have not been respected, which is fine I guess - compared to this, the third book is lean on action. ....that's it actually. Now...
Golem. He's astounding. I don't think I've ever seen a human create such an emotional and convincing performance of a person wrestling between their good and bad sides. I still don't believe it.
The sheer scale has been ramped up immeasurably, as races join together against their common foe. Whereas a Balrog or Cave Troll might be a major foe in the first, here thousands of orcs are the enemy, bringing a welcome expression of vastness to the saga.
The ents are superb - funny, and implemented at least as well as could be expected (probably much more so). There may be a tendancy for some to look at them and go 'well it's obviously digital' but that's not the point. The chracterisation and momentum they bring to the story is what matters.
The interleaving of the three main plot strands (Frodo/Aragorn and co/Merry, Pippin and the Ents) is handled in an awesomely inspired manner. The rythmical moving back and forth between these stories is almost digital in it's precision, and yet so, so, effective at driving the story forward (this is certainly one main reason why three hours seems like 25 minutes).
Anyway, I've wibbled on enough. This is the best film I have ever seen, and I simply can't want till Return of the King...