Purists have a lot to quibble with, but it's an easy movie to love.

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2002)

SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS THROUGHOUT:
Here's the deal: compared to the Fellowship Of The Ring, this movie has more adrenaline, but less heart.
Breathtaking, spectacular, and the fastest three hours I've ever spent in a movie theater--and yet I left the theater wishing I cared about the characters as much as I did after seeing the first movie.

Jackson took a LOT of plot liberties in this one. Everything seems compressed...which is understandable once you realize he's going to spend a third of the film's length on what was covered in one chapter of the book--the battle of Helm's Deep. Sure it's breathtaking, groundbreaking, etc., but it's a battle.
All kinds of things happen to folks in the movie that never happened in the book. Aragorn falls off a cliff (?) and is restored to life by the quasi-visionary kiss of Arwen (??). And in the strangest departure from the book...Faramir declares that "the ring will go to Gondor", and takes Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath for a showdown with an airborn ringwraith.
Well, it's a movie, and the results are, as previously noted, awe inspiring. Within its own world, the movie makes complete sense. Only the purists will quibble...and who cares about the purists (except other purists)? Jackson is always true to the spirit of the book. His love of the material can be felt throughout.
The only genuine flaw in the movie comes right at the end. After doing an excellent job of building up Frodo's growing surrender to the power of the ring, Jackson subjects Frodo to an inspirational Zig Zigler-style talking-to by Sam, which suddenly turns Frodo into sunshine and happiness at the end of the movie. If you buy the premise of the ring's growing power, you can't just throw it all away because Sam says "C'mon, Mr. Frodo sir...buck up!"
It's a minor point, but it bugged me.
Anyway, Gollum is as good as everybody says. As for me, I'm going to see it again this week, and probably the week after that. It's a movie that sticks with you for a long time after the final credits roll.

Is it as good/better than the first one? Are apples better than oranges? They're two different movies...in the end, more different than I expected. I can't weigh in on the as-good-as-or-better discussion, but I can affirm that both movies are very, very good.