Mixed feelings about the second installment...

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2002)

Right off the bat, let me say I enjoyed the movie immensely. Visually stunning, the right mix of comedic moments in tense situations, great cinematography, acting, and direction. It will leave you breathless and with an (enjoyable) case of sensory overload.
Here's the "but..."
While I accept, and in most cases agree with the cuts from the first installment, I think Peter Jackson went way too overboard, with omissions and changes. I list some of these below. (Note: Some of you might consider these spoilers, so...)
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Why was Theoden such a pansy? After released from Wormtongue's spell, he SHOULD have become the leader as he was depicted in the book.
What was all that Arwen/Elrond/Galadriel, and Arwen/Aragorn crap? There was so much more from the book that could have been added, and it seemed like this was padding. I could have accepted it, were it exposition, but it wasn't even that...
Elves in Helm's Deep? Puh-LEESE!
The Ents initially refusing to fight? Come on! They have a hatred for the Orcs because of the Orc's destruction of the forest.
AND WHERE THE HELL WERE THE HUORNS AT THE BATTLE OF HELM'S DEEP? Having just read that section in the book, I was really looking forward to the suspense and mystery they would have added. How strange it would have been to see the retreating Orcs running through the new and mysteriously appeared "forest," only never to re-appear out the other side, and no trace of them ever to be found.
This isn't just a wish list. This stuff could have all been in the movie had they dropped the non-existent Elf stuff, and done away with the wolf battle, neither of which were in the book. I think it would have been a more exciting story, had they not strayed so far.
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Now that that's out of the way...
The film is magnificent. Jackson has a talent for capturing all the peoples of Middle Earth, and to the exact idea of everyone's mind's eye. The Ents are perfection, (BTW: Does anyone else think that John Rhys-Davies did the voice of Treebeard?) Smeagol breaks new ground in CGI, and the battle scenes are (in the true sense of the word) awesome.
If you saw the first, you won't be disappointed with the second, but I do hope that all the extra scenes that Jackson called his actors back for weren't all those glaring mistakes...
9 out of 10 (I just can't give it a 10 because of all the changes.)