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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9476445" data-attributes="member: 7035894">I don't care much about whether or not RoP is accurate to Tolkien's canon, to the extent that there is a Middle Earth canon. And I hate and reject all the stupid culture war criticisms of this show. Yet, I do have criticisms of the show, and feel guilty discussing them for fear that they will be misappropriated. So that's my disclaimer: I think there are things the show does well, and aspects of it that could be a lot better, and any criticisms should be taken in that spirit.Good: I mean, it's visually gorgeous. I feel like it does a wonderful job of creating a cohesive aesthetic that feels like Middle Earth to me. There's a lot of continuation with Peter Jackson's vision, but also with various influential Middle Earth art books from the 70s. Costume design is fantastic, and the sets are wonderful. Shout out to the cinematography. And the score. These all reflect the (insanely) high budget, but in this respect, it's money well spent.The actors are well cast. I buy most of them in their roles. Morfydd Clark does well to bring authenticity to a TOUGH role, because I think the elves are being directed to act more or less like Vulcans. So they all have to come across as incredibly restrained, while having a ton of repressed emotions. The dwarf and halfling actors all get to chew the scenery, and are suitably entertaining.Bad: It's often tendentious and consequently kind of a slog. There is a huge amount of exposition, and way too many character arcs. To the extent that I have only just finished watching episode 3 because it is tough to convince my spouse to watch, and I think I will be finishing the series on my own. Eventually. As a Tolkien fan, I already know what the ending will be, as far as the major plot points go, so it needs to do a better job of investing me in the character arcs. Thus far, the only characters that I really care about are Elrond and Galadriel. I already know their fates, so it's the new characters that I need to be invested in in order to create some dramatic tension. That's what's really missing for me.So plotting and character development are a drag.Frankly, I think the whole series should focus on a few of those new characters and put the ALL the canonical names in the background. Way in the background. Give me Middle Earth from some truly new perspectives.</blockquote>

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