[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

Well, I've finally seen it. <P>Hmph. <P>Well. I wouldn't call that a wasted $9, but I'm probably not going to see this one over and over again. It's an odd film.<P>Overall, it reminds me of an old grandfather that starts an exciting story, wanders off the point and by the time he gets back to the original idea the excitement's gone.<BR><UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI> The pacing was strange. Fast in the beginning. Slow in the middle. And kind of fast at the end, but in a syrupy slow motion kind of way. It wasn't powerful.<BR><LI> There was a lack of dramatic tension after the scenes of Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli chasing the orcs. How Amon Hen became more intense than Helm's Deep I'll never know.<BR><LI> The plot twists were a little odd. Aragorn gets injured and wanders off - why? How does this forward the story?<BR><LI> Treebeard is tricked into attacking Isengard, but all the other ents just happen to be around? It's not even a clever ruse.<BR><LI> The section in Osgiliath is poorly thought out. Characters wander in without being introduced. Faramir - no matter how he's portrayed - is not developed at all, he's a non-entity. <BR><LI> Not-so-sympathetic hero. The weak Frodo, offering himself up as virgin sacrifice and attacking his friend leaves a bad taste in the mouth. We are supposed to respect him? Why?<BR><LI> The use of a narrator in the middle of the movie is startling, inconsistent and strange.<BR><LI> Characters are given too many speeches, at odd intervals. Sam's speech is particularly long and syrupy. Gollum's is excessive.<BR><LI> Gollum hogs screen time in general. His multiple personality syndrom is beaten to death. We get it, we get it. He has two sides. </UL> <P>It was not a particularly good movie. Not awful. Just... lukewarm.<P>I'm concerned PJ has left too much for the third movie for it to be very good either.<P>-Maril<P><BR>PS: Funny. I have the impression that directors got so excited about their new ideas in the editing process, they forget the audience. Thus paid only cursory attention to the main storyline.