excellent

Rating: 9/10 (1 December 2005)

Spectacular in every way!
The only thing I did not like was the change to Faramir (-1 point). In the movie, he too is captivated by the Ring and begins in earnest to take Frodo and the Ring to his father, unlike the book. In the book Faramir chooses to "look the other way", but he still senses the evil of the Ring. In part we are led to believe that his training under Mithrandir (Gandalf) may have something to do with his knowing not to let his mind linger on the Ring, but rather shun it. He does not take Frodo captive with the intention of taking the Ring to his father, but rather frees Frodo after holding him at the waterfall hideout.
I thought Jackson and co. could have stayed true to the book in this case without losing the effect of the Ring being seductive to everyone. Faramir's shunning of the ring also helps to effectively show the difference between he and his brother. Both having good intentions, but with Faramir being the more "open-minded" of the brothers he is thus able to recognize the danger of the Ring, and also know his own weakness in the face of such danger. Aragorn, too, chose to shun the ring, and he too could sense its evil. He was also something of Mithrandir's apprentice (not to mention the Elves'). So there was a logical explanation for them resisting the ring: their training alerting them to the potential danger and the need to avoid it. That could've been explained in lieu of this relatively small change in the story they chose to make.