My brother does a pretty good job of articulating the things that bother him about Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, specifically Return of the King, which points I also tend to agree with. He also found a person's post who expresses specific concerns very well.

By the way, I think I can answer the guy's puzzlement about Arwen's setup and lack of payoff: in Jackson's original plans, and indeed up through some shooting, Arwen did appear, at Helm's Deep, and fought alongside Aragorn and the others there, helping Legolas pull Aragorn and Gimli up from in front of the gate for example. But then the decision was made (possibly due in part to fans' outcries of "XenArwen... NOOOOO!" when hints of this were leaked onto the web, or maybe just because they decided themselves that it wasn't working and/or would detract from the Eowyn subplot) to change that and remove her.

I think all three movies are great, though I eagerly and anxiously await the extended Return of the King which I hope will improve Denethor's character as the extended Two Towers improved his son's. No quarrel though with the casting or the music.

I'm glad they weren't perfect, because they leave enough room for someone to try to remake them someday.

These slightly belated thoughts brought to you by the hope that Return of the King collects all the Oscars it's up for, though I think Fellowship was really the best one.

contents of the purple tricycle are copyright 2004 carrie lynn king unless otherwise noted.