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Lord of the Rings 指环王 英语影评
I thought "The Fellowship of the Ring" was a great movie. I thought the filmmakers made excellent use of the medium, so it was easy to excuse the deviations from the book. I thought the movie's approach really complemented the book and thought Elijah Wood's portrayal of Frodo was severely underrated.
Last weekend I read "The Two Towers" in preparation for the release of the second movie and suggest you do the same. I just came back from the late showing on opening night. Unfortunately, it was mildly disappointing. Now, I know it is hard for any sequel except Godfather II to live up to its predecessor, but this movie could have been better. That isn't to say it is without merit. It is a sweeping epic and a great cinematic challenge, but I think Peter Jackson took artistic license too far. Diehard fans will want to see it once but not twice. The uninitiated will be totally lost, IMNSHO.
First the good points. The movie does a good job of interleaving the multiple story lines. In the book, Frodo is absent for the first few hundred pages but you won't have to wait long for his appearance in the movie. All the actors continued to play their roles well, although Frodo's character wasn't explored nearly as well in this movie as in the first. Some of the visual effects are astounding and their cumulative weight recreates Middle Earth convincingly. It seems like no expense was spared, but the movie doesn't get caught up in the special effects themselves. They remain transparent and believable, which is no easy feat. The siege at Helm's Deep is portrayed astoundingly well. Although this episode is darker in parts, there is also quite a bit of unexpected (intentional) humor.
So what's not to like? My main complaint is the rather dramatic deviation from the book at multiple points. Some of the deviations are justifiable and even add to the story, but others change the characters in inexcusable ways. I could barely sit through the Liv Tyler scenes (she plays Arwen, who doesn't even appear in the second book) but the handling of the Ents and Boromir's brother were most disappointing. Jackson lavished inexplicable attention on lesser or invented scenes while omitting two vitally important ones from the book. I won't give anything away, but I suspect one of these will reappear in the third installment.
I remember precisely this same feeling after watching "The Empire Strikes Back." It wasn't without merit, but it wasn't as good as the first one. Peter Jackson is on record saying the movie makes no attempt to bring you up to speed if you didn't see the first episode. Fair enough. Anyone I know who didn't see the first one is renting it on DVD before going to the second one. I suspect most movie-goers have read the books, but anyone who hasn't read them recently will have trouble following the multi-pronged plot. Furthermore, movie omits the opening scene of the book, which is jolting if you don't remember precisely where the last movie left off. That said, the opening few minutes is breath-taking, as are many other parts of the movie, so you don't want to get there late. If this review is a little scattered, it is because the movie is a bit scattered as well. Parts of it were top-notch, but it wasn't as coherent or satisfying as the first episode.
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