Reviews

It feels like Peter Jackson had a job to do. To make LOTR for a younger audience. As a 3D cinematic experience this movie will amaze you with the image quality and depth. As a representation of the book? I wonder how many kids would actually bother to read it these days? For that reason I think I can forgive the drawn out story line. What I didn't expect was the cartoon-like feel to a lot of the action sequences which although violent (in a cartoonish way) lack the dark and scary feel of the LOTR trilogy. That said, the actors are well cast, the scenery is epic, Golem is even better and Peter Jackson is still the man to make these films. It's just that this time around it's more innocent and as an adult who doesn't generally enjoy kids movies, I was a little out of my comfort zone at times.

For a film like this you've really got to ask what you want. A lot of people I know might not like it or really get it. I was looking for something a bit different to watch by myself, to engorge myself in. It's properly crude (in US terms) but that's kind of the point I think. I watch a lot of films and this one made me register to IMDb as I think it's probably under-rated. The acting is GOOD throughout. The cast is good (especially the kid...if the kids in Harry Potter were half that good we'd see them a lot in movies in the future...we won't) and the vibe is excellent. It's original without trying too hard and it didn't make me feel like I'd seen this film before. The other reviews seem to sum up the premise pretty much so I won't bother. I think this film could've gone bad many times over but the quality of it holds it together. It's a bit odd, a bit wrong, a bit sad, funny, witty, intelligent, brave and charming. I may be over egging this pudding but this film very nearly slipped under my radar and I'm very glad it didn't. When I'm hunting I reckon this is the kind of review I'd like to read to fire me up a bit. Eternal Sunshine meets No country for old men......or something :-)