The cinematic versions of The Lord of the Rings are, as a whole, wonderfully acted, although some actors are clearly more talented than others. Here is my breakdown...<P>Frodo Baggins: Elijah does a terrific job of portraying Frodo, more particularly in the second movie, when his character shows a greater variety of emotions and struggle. His eyes are gorgeous and work wonders for his character.<P>Merry and Pippin: As much as I think Dominic is a cutie, it is clear that Billy Boyd is the more skillful actor.<P>Samwise: I don't like Sean Astin whatsoever, but admittedly, he does an excellent job.<P>Gandalf: Superlative performance by Ian MacKellen, as usual. He was better in FOTR, when Gandalf was much more human. Too distant in TTT and it will probably be even worse in ROTK, but nonetheless, nobody could do it better.<P>Gimli: John Rhyes-Davis is the best pure actor of the group, along with Sir Ian. "If you were asking for my advice, which I know you were not..." is classic. He is great.<P>Legolas: I happen to think that Orlando Bloom is the epitome of human physical perfection, but he is nothing extraordinary as an actor. Sorry to say it.<P>Aragorn: Played to perfection.<P>Boromir: Ditto.<P>Wormtounge: My absolute favorite in the books and movies. Dourif does a wonderful job.<P>Everyone in Rohan does a fine job.<P>As for the elves, Hugo Weaving is <I>not</I> Elrond at all. Worst of the trilogy. Liv Tyler is good for the token character, and Blanchett is pure excellence. Haldir was unremarkable.<P>Christopher Lee does an excellent job as Saruman. Faramir was well-acted (at least, with the script given to him). And Gollum...well, not a bad word can be said about Serkis' performance.
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