Aaaahhhh, something was missing there...

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2003)

The road goes ever on and on....
And brings us in the human territories of middle earth. The images are great, the music a masterpiece at certain points. Peter Jackson's craftmanship obvious all over the project. But...?
This movie exists only to testify that "Fellowship of the Ring" was indeed a great movie.
I left the theatre with mixed feelings. I didn't know if I liked it or not. What did i see? what did it say to me? Well, the movie actually differs a lot from the book. But I'm ok with that. There are huge differences as to what works in a reader's fantasy, and what works cinematically.
But...? It looked rough. It looked like someone yelled "ok, let's get done with it" while filming. It looked disconnected.
This movie's actual intention, is to introduce us to the characters of Gollum and Faramir, because they have each a special part to play in act three, "The Return of the King". At a certain point you think that this could be accomplished by merging elements from the "two towers" in the "Return of the King".
Maybe though all this is because it originally was about an hour and a half longer and the producers at new line decided that Peter Jackson is nuts and cut it down to the core. I definatelly wait the Extended DVD Edition, with high hopes bestowed on Peter Jackson (who has never failed me before), and proving that the guys in the studio offices actually are wrong from time to time...
Woa! I almost forgot! My God! The Gollum effect is the most unbelievable CGI character that has ever existed on screen. The interaction with the human characters was breathtaking. Serkis' acting (body language) unbeatable. WETA Digital, diserves all oscars they can have. And it should put the fathers of the SFX, LucasFilm's ILM in serious thinking as to where are THEY going?
we only have to wait and see, while the road goes ever on and on....