Looks fantastic, storyline disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2002)

I thought the movie looked fantastic, just like Fellowship of the Ring, but once again Jackson made COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY changes to the storyline. None of the changes where necessary to condense the story. In fact, many increased screen time. I'm not a purist. I believed the decision to interweave the story of Frodo and Sam and the story of the rest was a correct one since modern audiences expect that sort of thing like say in the Empire Strikes Back. The story changes that actually replace parts of the story in the book were not at all necessary.
I would say more but I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen the movie. I'm just warning them that they better not expect the story in the Two Towers volume.