[doug*platypus]

A fair call, PanMan, but the growth of Pippin was always going to be easier to chart. In the movies as well as the books, Merry is more of a worldly hobbit. Not quite as young, and definitely not as foolish.<P>Billy Boyd played his part very well, and the writers took great care to see that his character grew and his story was finished off. I'm sure that with a bit more experience, Billy will be an excellent actor and I'd be dead keen to see him in his next movie. He'd be my first choice to play Bilbo if somebody ever makes <I>The Hobbit</I>.<P>But I have to brave the fangirl onslaught and say that I got pretty sick of his wide-eyed "Oh, gosh!" look of stunned mullet amazement. Not entirely Boyd's fault; I think that PJ has a habit of overdoing scenes and 'laying it on a bit thick'. I don't even know how to describe the expression, but I can say that in my opinion less is almost always more. A good example is the parting of Merry and Pippin, which I have to admit was done better than the book. Dom and Billy really showed exactly what the feelings were. They had it absolutely perfect... and then PJ writes in a parting scream of "Merry!" from Pippin. Whoops! Too far. Jackson once again orders extra cheese.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> gathers his courage and killed that orc <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, that was pretty good in the context of his pre-battle fear. However, we've seen all four hobbits beat the snot out of orcs in Moria, so PJ kind of painted himself into a corner (again!) on that one. I feel that Pippin spotting the eagles was a bit lacking, too, but I don't know exactly why. Maybe it just lacks the hopelessness of the situation in the book, where Pippin (like Bilbo) was on the verge of unconsciousness.<P>All in all, Pip was definitely one of the high points of the film, though. It was a real shame not to see him and Merry emerge as great heroes on their return to the Shire. Best Billy line: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> or <B>evil</B> times <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>