Can an animated character win best Actor ?

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2003)

First I would like to say that I read the book a long time ago but I am not a rabid fan. The odd changes to the story I can live with as books and films are not the same (that is to you fanboys and fangirls).
This was an awesome film in every way which got even better the second time I watched it. From the initial sequence right through the climatic scenes this seemed so much more than the first film and I loved that.
The thing that struck me the most was Smeagol / Gollum. Not just the CGI that is used to create him (although that is as good as we were led to believe and makes that silly House Elf from the boy wizard film look like Mickey Mouse). It was Andy Serkis - the emotion and torment he filled the character with made me feel for him in much bigger way than I ever did when reading the book. The way the character kept swaying between Gollum and Smeagol kept me hooked to the screen more than any other part of the movie.
I was pleasantly surprised by the look of the ents as I had been worried that these would just look stupid. This gives me hope for the final film and some of the more outlandish characters in that.
My only fault, although this is more with the book than the film, is that Frodo and Sam's relationship is a bit too much sometimes - I'm not sure what it is - I can see why their were rumours on the net that the two were homosexual as the book although not saying this gave them a friendship that I cannot imagine outside of a loving intimate one (maybe that is my jaded view of the world though). I have no problems with homosexual relationships on film but this sort of is nearly but not quite there.
See this film and then see it again but don't drink lots of soft drink before going in (like I did the first time - doh!) as it's a long film that only bladder will clue you in on.