No matter what he did, how amazing he made it, he had no hope of pleasing everybody. But his interpretation was amazing. It deviated from my ideas in plenty of places, but most of his changes had good, solid reasons behind them. So much that he couldn't fit into the film was just *there*, in the background, for anyone in the know to look at and admire.
I am someone who will go and see a film for the sole purpose of looking at the CGI. This time, I never even noticed it.
I have already seen the film twice, and I can assure you that it withstands scrutiny well. I grieved for Gandalf just as much the second time as the first time.
I also was totally confused by the way the leaving of the Shire was engineered, but in retrospect, it was the only way Peter Jackson could cut Tom Bombadil. A great pity, but five hour films are a rarity...
Celeborn utterly let me down. He had just one line, and he screwed it up. Galadriel trod the line well, and Elrond (whom I was dubious about) turned out to be perfect.
If Sir Ian McKellan doesn't get an Oscar for his role, I will be surprised and pretty annoyed. This truly is an epic. |
