Book vs. Movie characters

[Ughósh the Abominable]

Among the characters I thought were portrayed quite well were Aragorn, Boromir, Gollum, Saruman, Sam, and Elrond; though I'd have to say that the one character that was absolutely spot-on was Gandalf. Ian McKellen is amazing. However you spell his name. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] (Haha, I said "spell"...never mind). Sure, each of the above (expect Gandalf, in my opinion) suffered some from the fact that they're characters in a movie, not a book; therefore they can't be fleshed out as much as they might be, etc. And there are one or two changes that make me grumble, like Aragorn being so unwilling to take up his inheritance (he struck me as much more noble and responsible in the books).

There are no characters in the movies that I think were portrayed horribly, except perhaps Faramir who really wasn't portrayed at all (though I'm hoping PJ will redeem himself on this point in RotK). But there are several that I think could use some work. Eowyn seemed too much the starry-eyed little girl in TTT. In the books she always struck me as a bit more crazed, a bit more tomboyish, a bit more hard-edged and serious; in the movie she seems to be all sighs and swoons.

Eomer simply didn't get enough screen time and dialogue. In the books he seemed something of a younger Theoden, or an echo of Theoden in his hale youth; in the movie he simply didn't get the chance to be portrayed as...anything, except a guy on a horse with a cool helmet that likes to insult Dwarves.

Legolas is played by Orlando Bloom, a young and inexperienced teen idol...I mean, actor. Therein lie most of his problems in the movie. He spends most of his time pouting, the better to attract swooning teenaged girls to the theatre who otherwise wouldn't see a movie like this in a million years. He does have his moments, though; he seemed to get quite a shot in the arm after the Moria scenes in FotR, and after that did quite well for the rest of the movie. However, he goes back to pouting in TTT. And anyone remember that scene where he starts yelling at Aragorn about how they're all going to die? Sheesh. A. That came out of nowhere; wasn't he making jokes about Aragorn's B.O. just before that? B. His expression didn't change a bit throughout the delivery of those lines. Orlando Bloom strikes again, and according to the umpire, he's out of there.

I have similar reservations when it comes to Gimli. Gimli in the movies is a bit of a paradox. Jon Rhys-Davis seems at the same time the best and worst possible choice for the role. I love the way he delivers his lines; the way he speaks fits very well the way I always imagined a Dwarf speaking. However, the actual lines that he speaks leave me a bit worried. "Nobody tosses a Dwarf"? "Ach, you could have picked a better spot"? "We Dwarves are natural sprinters, very dangerous over short distances"? No, no, no. Gimli in the books was always...the Dwarf. That's just it. He wasn't the silly lawn gnome that rears its ugly head so often in the films; he was a Dwarf, child of a race whose history is the very definition of sorrow and tragedy and painful defiance in the face of great evil. He had his mirth; after all, if one whose quest was so perilous didn't indulge in a bit of laughter once in a while, he'd probably just cry the whole way. But mirth did not define his character; often he was sort of a pessimist, or a superstitious paranoiac. In battle he was a combat machine (42 kills at Helm's Deep; 42!!); I think that, at least, has been adequately portrayed, especially in TTT where him and Aragorn get to defend the gates by themselves against the charging Uruk-hai.

Theoden in the movie troubled me. He went from a puppet of sorcery to a mean old man, then through a phase of senility before he finally showed something of the Theoden I remember from the books (charging fey down the ramp from the Keep and into the black throng). Of course this is all wound up with my sense of annoyance at PJ's alteration of the whole Helm's Deep plot element. In the books, they had to go to the Deep because a huge force of orcs and Dunlendings was charging across the plain, and Theoden's force could not hope to defeat them in a pitched battle. In the movie, Gimli and Gandalf start moaning about Theoden's...cowardice?...in not charging off immediately to get slaughtered. ***?

And yes, I would like to put in my two cents about the elves at Helm's Deep. I have but one question to PJ: why? I couldn't help chuckling behind my hand when I saw Haldir, who we'd just seen in the Lorien scenes near the end of FotR, saying he and his force came on the behalf of Elrond of Rivendell. ?????

No, that's not the worst part of it. The worst part is that A. This never happened in the books, and B. It never would have, because it doesn't make any sense. LOTR is not about Elves coming in and saving the day for everybody; it's more about everybody saving the day for themselves, for the first time, and in doing so starting a new age where much that has been for ages will now pass away (including, I add pointedly, the dominion of the Elves). But no, PJ has to inject his precious Elves into everything, because all the Elf fan-boys in the audience will wet their pants in glee when they see the pointy-eared freaks marching onto the screen. Elves, elves, elves, elves, ELVES!!!!! *twitch*

In conclusion, I have one more beef with the portrayal of a character in the film: Glorfindel. My beef is simply this: he's not in the films at all. His glory was totally usurped by Arwen in the first film. And PJ wasn't finished with that: he proceeded to rub Arwen in our faces constantly throughout the rest of FotR and again in TTT. No doubt the rubbing will continue in RotK. *sigh*

[ August 26, 2003: Message edited by: Ughósh the Abominable ]

[ August 26, 2003: Message edited by: Ughósh the Abominable ]