Review Detail
9.2 31 10
(Updated: September 17, 2012)
Enjoyment
9.0
Review by Brumous — June 11, 2011 @ 5:44 pm
A fine chapter in the series. In the original, the Rohan and Helms Deep scenes benefited from intercutting with Frodo’s story, but it turns out the opposite is not true. The Ringbearers’ journey stands fine on its own, and I think the consolidation makes Gollum’s scenes a more intense character study. The relationships among the three main characters seem to develop more naturally.
The big payoff was deleting Faramir’s abduction of the hobbits, for me the most annoying departure from Tolkien’s book in the entire movie trilogy. The editing gets a little rough toward the end of this, but I am impressed at Kerr’s cleverness in assembling a reasonable narrative from the original materials. Faramir is a more thoughtful and sympathetic character, which makes a better setup for the next episode.
Another important cut is Gollum saving Frodo from drowning in the marsh, which changes a lot about their subsequent relationship and makes Frodo seem a much more patient and generous character, and Sam less harsh. Overall the story flow is handled well and any moments of confusion or discontinuity resulting from the edits are few and minor. 9/10.
A fine chapter in the series. In the original, the Rohan and Helms Deep scenes benefited from intercutting with Frodo’s story, but it turns out the opposite is not true. The Ringbearers’ journey stands fine on its own, and I think the consolidation makes Gollum’s scenes a more intense character study. The relationships among the three main characters seem to develop more naturally.
The big payoff was deleting Faramir’s abduction of the hobbits, for me the most annoying departure from Tolkien’s book in the entire movie trilogy. The editing gets a little rough toward the end of this, but I am impressed at Kerr’s cleverness in assembling a reasonable narrative from the original materials. Faramir is a more thoughtful and sympathetic character, which makes a better setup for the next episode.
Another important cut is Gollum saving Frodo from drowning in the marsh, which changes a lot about their subsequent relationship and makes Frodo seem a much more patient and generous character, and Sam less harsh. Overall the story flow is handled well and any moments of confusion or discontinuity resulting from the edits are few and minor. 9/10.
B