Nasty hobbit

Rating: 4/10 (3 January 2003)

If you haven't seen the first of the trilogy and/or read the book, don't bother going to this movie. Total confusion for three hours; such that, at the end of the film, the uninitiated don't even known what the two towers are/were. The movie is designed for the viewer (i.e., sucker)to run out and rent the first volume because we pick up right where that left off a year ago (which is when I saw it) and the viewer is expected to know exactly where that was, who all these people (and things) are and so on. Then a bunch of kings and princes with beards show up, and I'm sorry but I just don't have time to tell them apart. Then there's that masochistic goblet or gobbin or some such thing prancing in a loin cloth with bug eyes and incessantly talking to himself. It's just too much, including all the fight scenes which go by so fast you can't figure who shot who. Great New Zealand scenery and excellent special effects might be worth the price of admission. However, this must be breaking sales records with repeat viewers who have an extra three hours (plus 15 minutes of previews) to see it twice in an attempt to figure it out.