Never thought I'd say this...

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2002)

SPOILERS.
In my opinion, FOTR was a brilliant film. I rated it a 10.0 here (the Extended DVD version). For me, as for many others, it laid to rest any doubts that Peter Jackson could pull off the impossible and create a truly worthy, magnificent film version of LOTR, one which even Tolkien would likely have been proud. I honestly must say that after viewing The Two Towers, those doubts have returned for me.
When I left the theatre after having viewed FOTR for the first time, I had a few quibbles about PJ's interpretation, but in general I felt thrilled and elated and raring to see it again. This time I came out feeling let down and a little short-changed and wanting to see it again just to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Part of this reaction was because I had read too many advanced reviews which built my expectations too high. And part of it was because, as so many others have pointed out, TTT is more of an action/battle novel while FOTR was very character/quest driven.
But these rationalizations are letting PJ off the hook too easily. In my opinion, he released a product that could have been significantly better, given the time he had to complete it.
Like others who have criticized TTT, I felt that Jackson gave short shrift to the hobbits, particularly Merry and Pippen. I loved the banter between M & P that existed in FOTR. In TTT, the two basically just sat on Treebeard's arms with their mouths agape. What didn't help was that the CGI quality of the Ent sequences was well below that of the rest of the movie. I've read that Jackson cut ou a lot of Ent material(the Ent draught scene in particular), material that will likely go back into the extended DVD, so this might help things. And he'll probably work on improving the quality of the animation renderings as well (he did that in the first movie).
I felt that Frodo's characterization was surprisingly weak. At the end of FOTR, Frodo was resolute as he viewed the plains of Mordor. At the beginning of TTT, he appeared already half-delirious from the influence of the ring. The passage of time was not just rushed; it was non-existent.
Also as countless others have stated, I felt that Faramir was shortchanged to some degree. He was a more noble, likeable character in the novel. But frankly, the change wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. He was not a clone of Boromir. Having just reread the book, I would challenge anyone to prove that PJ's characterization of Faramir was that far off the mark. Yes he was portrayed as more cold and distant than he appeared in Tolkien's novel, but not by any stretch did he covet the ring as did Boromir. Nor did I find the trip to Osgiliath particularly objectionable.
IMO, these criticisms are relatively minor compared to my main criticism: that the ending was a butchered edit job. A build-up of two hours to the battle of Helms Deep emphasizing the Rohirrim's feeling of despair and utter hopelessness of being vastly outnumbered, a great sequence of battle scenes, and then in the space of 5 minutes, it's over. Gandalf appears on Shadowfax on a hillside, and the Uruk Hai basically run for their lives. Ten thousand creatures that 'don't know pain, don't know fear' turn tail at the site of 300 men on horseback. That's not the way it happened in the book. It was the Huorn (trees) that saved the day. I guess Jackson felt that it was too much to ask the viewing audience to accept the Ents/trees saving the day twice (Helms Deep and Isengard). That thinking in itself is OK. But he could have drawn out the fighting sequences after Gandalf and the Rohirrim appeared. The battle was simply over too quickly.
Worse, the climax with Gandalf was treated almost as an aside. The scene of the wizard and the riders of Rohan charging down the mountain was not even presented in 'real time' in the movie. Instead it was simply a backdrop to Sam's hokey motivational speech to Frodo. The intermingled scenes of Gandalf and the Ent's flooding of Isengard played second fiddle to this speech, which frankly was so corny, I cringed a little in my seat.

Even worse, the final ending scenes paled in their impact compared to that in FOTR. I don't buy the excuse that this had to be because TTT was the middle movie. The end of FOTR was beautifully and intelligently scripted and was very emotional. In particular, the scene with Frodo standing in silence on the banks of the river with the ring in his hand was one of the highlights of the movie for me, and one of the reasons why I could return to watching it again and again. In contrast, TTT just ENDS. There's no sense of suspense or drama. To me, it came across as if PJ was editing the movie, realized that it was 2 hours and 59 minutes long, and said to himself "Oh my god, I've only got one minute left! I'll just throw in this quick pan of Shelob's mountain and be done with it!" In my opinion, he should have continued the plot right up until the brink of the confrontation with Shelob.
Two other minor criticisms: the make-up job on the pre-exorcised Theodin was way over the top. Yes, he was possessed. But couldn't Jackson had made the point more subtly? It's like he didn't trust the audience's intelligence and had to hit them over the head by turning Theodin into a caricature.

And the confrontation of Frodo with the black rider on the back of the flying creature (not nearly as frighteningly rendered as the black horses in FOTR): why was that necessary? It undermined one of the main sources of suspense in Tolkien's novels: that Frodo and Sam manage to stay just outside the view of Mordor.
For these reasons, I rate TTT an 8.0. And I think that's being generous. In fairness, I am going to see this movie again (but probably only once again, in contrast to the fifteen times that I have scene FOTR), mostly to give it the benefit of the doubt and see if my opinion of it improves upon further viewing.
Also in fairness, I had let my expectations build to the point that the movie could not do anything but disappoint. After all, these two movies together represent possibly the greatest epic ever to be filmed, and the third is hopefully going to be a return to the quality of the first. Though I must admit that I now have some doubts, something I would NOT have said after seeing FOTR.
Also, on the plus side, the animation of Gollum was IMHO just AWESOME. Makes Yoda and Jar Jar Binks (hate to even mention him) and Dobby seem like hand puppets.
Bottom line: I cannot hide a sense of disappointment. The tribute to Tolkien and Jackson is that I regard this LOTR trilogy - and PJ's films - as a personal possession, and I have lost a little pride in that possession upon the first viewing of TTT.