As good as the first one!

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 2003)

And that's saying a LOT, seeing as how I rated that a 10+/10. And I normally have little interest in the whole "Sword & Sorcery" genre, so my high praise means even more than usual. They were wise to film all three LOTR movies at the same time, for it means the 2nd follows the style of the first seamlessly. These are truly labors of love, every aspect of these films are crafted with exquisite care, it is obvious that all the people involved, from the producers, actors and directors on down wanted to spare no effort to pay full homage to Tolkien's classic works. There are virtually no flaws, and to point out what tiny ones exist would come off as churlish, so I simply won't bother. The acting is uniformly solid, and that's no small praise considering there are well over a DOZEN major characters here. And, just as with the first, the sheer amount of detail, the vastness of the story, is almost overwhelming, these clearly are movies that can be seen many times because there's so much to be absorbed. It's a shame this (like its predecessor) will probably be snubbed for Best Picture Oscar because it's obvious to anyone other than a complete dullard that these are landmark films whose appeal will long outlast the other Oscar contenders
10+/10