Rate the Cast's performance.

[Beanamir of Gondor]

AHHHHHH Abercrombie you did NOT just relate poor Orli to Ben Affleck!! Mr "Gigli" B.A. doesn't even deserve being mentioned in this thread among John Rhys-Davies, Ian McKellen, and Christopher Lee, much less being compared to poor Orli-boo. Even I can't descend to that level. I will agree that Orli isn't the best dramatic elf actor yet. And Legolas was a little bit feminine. But come on, take a look at Figwit in ROTK and then say something about feminine. I still rate Orli an 8.5/10.

Anyway, let's just leave it at I disagree with Boromir88 (about the usual thing, I have to defend Faramir, my fave character) that I thought David Wenham did a really great job. Having seen some of his other films, I have to rate him at least a 9.8/10, if not a 10/10. Not just an actor can take a full face shot for thirty seconds and turn absolute stony silence into breaking down into grief. And make the audience cry, too.

[Boromir88]

I'll just say that Orlando Bloom is better as an elf, then he is as a greek warrior, or a pirate.

Beanamir, we all have are different views, and perceptions, I respect that.

[Lalaith]

When it comes to John Noble, Miranda Otto and Bernard Hill, it's very hard for me to rate them as I think the acting was great but the parts were just wrong, wrong, wrong. These (particularly Theoden and Denethor) just weren't the people I got to know in the books.

Judging on acting alone:
least favourite - Elijah Wood. I really liked him in Ice Storm but now I can hardly bear to look at his picture he annoys me so much. I wasn't too pleased with Dominic Monaghan as Merry but that was more a case of miscasting than bad acting.
best: Ian McKellen, Karl Urban (a perfect and under-used Eomer)
Honourable mention to Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, a damn difficult role and she carried it off well.

[Evisse the Blue]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

Karl Urban (a perfect and under-used Eomer)

Yes, under-used, definitely.

I realized I forgot Orlando Bloom, and according to my post, he would have been included in the 10/10 category, but for the sake or justice I cannot put him on the same level as Ian McKellen for instance, especially since I gave Cate Blanchett a 7...
Orlando Bloom (Legolas) - 7/10 Like someone said before, he's lacking something. I can't find any specific fault with him, except for the corny lines he's forced to utter (that not being his fault), but his performance, though not bad, falls somewhat flat. I like his posture and his fight scenes. His looks are against him, though.

I forgot someone else whom I like very much and she wasn't mentioned before. Her role is not big, but she makes the most of it:
Sarah McLeod (Rosie) - handles her part most graciously. She is very much the cute and adorable hobbit, without being dull or cringe-worthy, as she might have been. And she has awesome chemistry with Sean Astin. The very last scene with her, Sam and their kids, the famous "Well I'm back scene' is in my top 5 best scenes of the trilogy.

[Imladris]

Just a word about Orlando Bloom;

I hear a lot about how Orlando is missing something in his performance and I would like to offer a suggestion about why that is:

1. Legolas is, sadly, the most under-developed character in the book. In fact, he was a bit flat if I may be so bold to say. His most shining moment was when he said that he'd go and fetch the sun which was, of course, left from the movies. *sigh* His other shining moment was when the orc counting game which I was pleased to see actually made it into the movies. But other than that Tolkien left him quite undevoloped.

2. This was his first role in a movie if I am not mistaken. Even if it wasn't he was new to acting. He had just graduated from acting school. He is not seasoned as most of the others are...

I'll just say that Orlando Bloom is better as an elf, then he is as a greek warrior, or a pirate.

He was a blacksmith. And the character of Paris can hardly be defined as a warrior...but that is just me.

And even though Orlando's voice is a bit monotone, his expressions are worth it. Ie, when Gandalf died, and when Boromir died.

So I'd probably give Orlando a nine out of ten.

Liv Tyler -- 7 out of 10. She doesn't seem like Arwen to me. And her voice was monotone and flat as well. She just didn't pull it off...though I must say I liked her in TTT when she saw herself in Aragorn's funeral.

Elijah Wood -- I'm not sure what rating to give him. He was good as Frodo, but he was better as Huck Finn (I can't say I agree with Boromir as I have not seen the Faculty yet). But some of his expressions were awesome...like after Gandalf had died and they were out of Moria...and he just looked so sad. 9/10.

And I'm afraid that I'd just repeat what others have said so I'm done...