Here's my report:
I saw it on the largest screen in Finland, with pretty decent seats too (middle of the second row). Great movie!
First of all, Rohan was depicted beautifully. All those fierce Nordic looking people and the Viking-esque architecture warmed my heart. Peter Jackson did plenty of close ups on the ordinary folk, making the people seem just that, as opposed to a bunch of faceless statists. King Theoden's transformation was done really well, and I doubt a better actor for Wormtongue could have been found, he was perfect (although I didn't catch any sight of his forked tongue). Theoden had just the right amount of pride and despair that I imagined. Eowyn was also great, the image of natural beauty combined with deep sorrow worked.
The characters in the Fellowship were given some good fleshing out, and Legolas particularly was given much more character. Whereas Pippin and Merry were the silly comic relief in the last movie, they really matured in this one. Gandalf's mannerism was prouder than before, although you really didn't see him much in the movie. Frodo and Sam became much more interesting characters than last time. Gollum was incredibly well done. He really felt like someone with a personality, as opposed to a CG gimmick. PJ also did a good job getting the audience to feel sympathy foor Gollum.
The orcs were much more interesting than last time, partially owing to the voice acting in parts. The Battle of Helms deep... brrr. I'm going to have to see the movie another time to digest even half of it, but it was a visual spectacle, and never gave into a dull moment. The preparation for the battle was really touching, and with young boys and old men donning armour, there was a deep sense of sadness. The ent attack on Isengard was also a feast on the eyes, although I think it should have been more violent. The ents really just mangled orcs and toppled the occasional tower, as opposed to utterly crushing the place in berserk rage. Talking of the ents, Treebeard was a very sympathetic character, but he should have had more screen time, they left out the best bits. And the entwives!
All in all, I liked the movie, and although it wasn't as faithful to the book as Fellowship, PJ did a great job of capturing Middle Earth on the screen again. Whether or not it's better than Fellowship, time will tell. I didn't get the same sense of awe as FotR of course, because I knew to expect a great movie. It will take at least one more watch to decide, but it definatly lives up to the quality of FotR.
I saw it on the largest screen in Finland, with pretty decent seats too (middle of the second row). Great movie!
First of all, Rohan was depicted beautifully. All those fierce Nordic looking people and the Viking-esque architecture warmed my heart. Peter Jackson did plenty of close ups on the ordinary folk, making the people seem just that, as opposed to a bunch of faceless statists. King Theoden's transformation was done really well, and I doubt a better actor for Wormtongue could have been found, he was perfect (although I didn't catch any sight of his forked tongue). Theoden had just the right amount of pride and despair that I imagined. Eowyn was also great, the image of natural beauty combined with deep sorrow worked.
The characters in the Fellowship were given some good fleshing out, and Legolas particularly was given much more character. Whereas Pippin and Merry were the silly comic relief in the last movie, they really matured in this one. Gandalf's mannerism was prouder than before, although you really didn't see him much in the movie. Frodo and Sam became much more interesting characters than last time. Gollum was incredibly well done. He really felt like someone with a personality, as opposed to a CG gimmick. PJ also did a good job getting the audience to feel sympathy foor Gollum.
The orcs were much more interesting than last time, partially owing to the voice acting in parts. The Battle of Helms deep... brrr. I'm going to have to see the movie another time to digest even half of it, but it was a visual spectacle, and never gave into a dull moment. The preparation for the battle was really touching, and with young boys and old men donning armour, there was a deep sense of sadness. The ent attack on Isengard was also a feast on the eyes, although I think it should have been more violent. The ents really just mangled orcs and toppled the occasional tower, as opposed to utterly crushing the place in berserk rage. Talking of the ents, Treebeard was a very sympathetic character, but he should have had more screen time, they left out the best bits. And the entwives!
All in all, I liked the movie, and although it wasn't as faithful to the book as Fellowship, PJ did a great job of capturing Middle Earth on the screen again. Whether or not it's better than Fellowship, time will tell. I didn't get the same sense of awe as FotR of course, because I knew to expect a great movie. It will take at least one more watch to decide, but it definatly lives up to the quality of FotR.
