Plot Direction Change

Rating: 5/10 (25 February 2005)

Why did they have a whole sequence where Aragorn is thought to be dead and that dumb elf (or the thought of her) brings him back? Why add something so useless and completely non-Tolkien? Who cares about adding "touching" scenes for the superficial walking wallets? Tolkien's books became classic and popular without all that garbage. I don't think Peter Jackson did a horrible job on the trilogy, and in fact, I think he produced a great silver screen interpretation of the series. However, I believe that he really fouled up the middle of this movie.
Its true that the book trilogy does not have much involvement for women, but there is no reason to add it now. It was completely unnecessary to add the whole Arwen romance spin. I don't remember reading it in the books. If it was in the books, then it was so insignificant that I merely forgot it. I only recall Arwen being mentioned in the end when they are wed (in a somewhat political wedding). (I've been told there is more to Arwen in the appendices, but I never read those, and they are appendices for a reason: extra and unimportant)
In fact, they actually cut out some of the only "romance" that Tolkien actually put in the story. Faramir and Eowyn spend quite a bit of time together while recovering, and that is where they begin to fall in love. If it was so necessary to have romance in this series, why not emphasize that part? This is probably because it didn't occur until the third book, and some Hollywood money-maker thought it would be better to develop a romance from the beginning to draw people in.
I know this may seem like I'm some Tolkien die-hard who will not like anything but the books, but I'm not. I love when books and movies coincide. However, I HATE when money (instead of artistic integrity) dictates production values. If you want a clearer view of what I mean, read Michael Crichton's The Lost World (sequel to Jurassic Park) and then watch the movie.