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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Igneous" data-source="post: 6507" data-attributes="member: 1339">I'd heard so many fantastic reports about this movie before I went to see it that I couldn't help but feel disappointed at its shortcomings.  Everything said so far concerning Arwen, the cuts and the Blair Witch style camerawork I'd agree with.  The soundtrack didn't do much for me and I was really irritated by the way it frequently drowned out the characters voices with blasts of sheer volume.The fight scenes themselves reminded me strongly of the choreography in Xena - Warrior Princess.   Having Lurtz cast his shield and harmlessly pin Aragorn to the tree had me wondering when somebody was going to leap out of the trees shouting I-YI-YI! and throwing a discus.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> What reads well in a heroically styled novel does NOT translate well to the big screen - after seeing Aragorn scatter five Ringwraiths with ease, then charge a tight formation of fifty to sixty Orcs without a care in the world - why would he ever need help?!  The classic swords and sorcery fighting style of having the baddies stand around waving their swords without attacking (so the hero can artistically slay them one at a time) was so blatant in this movie it was impossible to pretend otherwise.  I was amazed to see the monster in the lake and the Cave Troll both 'play' harmlessly with their opponents rather than simply killing them, particularly since said opponents were carving pieces off them at the time.  Let's not forget Gandalf hanging on to that ledge for an insanely long time while a Balrog that must have weighed several tons was hanging off his other wrist. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />The thing that ticked me off above everything else was the way they crucified poor Boromir.  Right from the start, they used his every appearance to hammer the point that this was the bad guy who would betray Frodo - no subtlety whatsoever!  As for his repeated act of falling down when shot only to rise and fight good as new...  Ugh.The directors decision to introduce ten times the original amount of comedy also backfired badly. One of the books most dramatic moments was Frodo's decision to take the Ring in Rivendell.  To quote:- The directors decision to recast this whole encounter had the whole cinema laughing at what they thought to be a gag line from a stupid hobbit who had no sense of direction.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" />   Virtually every mention of Merry and Pippin was the same, making them out as Grade A buffoons.  I wonder just how the director expects the audience to take them seriously for the next two movies, where those hobbits are dead serious and suffering for almost all of them...I'm not normally this harsh on a film (I can even see the funny side of 'Air Force One'...) but after going in with such high expectations I got a nasty surprise.  For the moment I'm just hoping that a DVD with the extra hour or so of cut footage will drastically improve things.Compared to other sword and sorcery movies it I imagine it wouldn't fare so badly, especially given some of the shockers we've seen in that area lately.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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