One more to the Dark Side...

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2002)

... the dark side of computer graphics, that is. By this I mean that this movie has in common with the latest installments of Star Wars (and, undoubtedly, with an increasing number of Hollywood blockbusters) that the only character worth
caring about and, yes, the only "acting" worth noticing, is computer generated: there Yoda (and the two robots), here Gollum.
As evidenced by the previews preceding the movie - all, with one exception,
sequels or prequels of some kind, with a special mention to "Dumb and
Dumberer" (!) - this is also one more movie that people will watch for what it promises, not for what it delivers - it pretty much doesn't matter what you see, if you liked the first one (as you probably did unlike you get dragged into the
second, as I was, against your own will) and/or liked the book, you'll like this too.
All in all, this is a perfect no-brainer as (some people claim) only Hollywood can make, where plot and characters are replaced with grandiose scenery, special
effects, fights, noise and furor.
What I found most disturbing is, in addition to the racist undertones common to all of Tolkien's work (a simplistic world where one's character and almost every action is dictated by their "race"), the obvious pro-war propaganda
(miscellaneous and coincidental maybe, but still remarkable) conveyed by a
plot whose center theme is the necessity - no, the beauty and holiness - of
(some) wars. Although understandable from someone who wrote (maybe with a clear vision
of what the near future would bring) in the late 30's, the clear message that "sometimes", delaying war is a fatal mistake appears here, with Evil itself as the enemy, in the simplistic form which has been used so many times - and still is - as an excuse for random, unwarranted acts of aggression. In a story where any kind of deep meaning is hard to find, stumbling upon this one is particularly disturbing in the current political context.