I have a bit of time at the end of the day to either watch a movie (or a part of a movie) or read. I’ve been sort of alternating back and forth for a while, and I recently watched the Lord of the Rings movies over the course of about two weeks. It was a very pleasant surprise to realize that I had bought but never watched the extended editions of The Two Towers and Return of the King. Fellowship I had watched, and so the added scenes weren’t new to me, but there was scads of new content in the last two that I thought I had already caught. I think I bought them and planned to have a marathon viewing of all three movies, perhaps with friends, and then I just never got around to it.

It was great to see them again, and pleasantly surprising that they held up so well. I don’t mean over the course of time. I mean that typically when you rewatch movies you begin to see more and more of its faults. I did see some of those things, but I also recognized what a great job Peter Jackson and the other writers did to make this a very personal and emotional movie, where the books were less so. Of course, the books still have a special place in my heart. They were the first books that I read that I truly enjoyed and truly lost myself in. But I want to recognize what an accomplishment Peter Jackson made in these three movies. They stand on their own as a fully realized story.

It was incredibly gratifying to view a fantasy story that can proudly proclaim to be one of the best movies ever made. Not merely a good fantasy movie. A good movie. The writing, the directing, the cinematography, the acting, the effects. On and on… It’s really a treasure, and I’m glad that all other fantasy movies will now be held up to this yardstick. It will make them better, and that’s great, because there are a lot of wonderful fantasy movies that deserve to be brought to the big screen.

While I was watching, I wasn’t trying to pay particular attention to the acting, but in the way of these things (at least as a writer who tends to pick things apart almost subconsciously) I found certain actors to be up to the task and others less so. There were two standouts for me on this watching. They were head and shoulders, I think, above the others, who were all rather good in their own right. The first was Sean Bean as Boromir. I had seen him in a few movies before LotR, and I liked him, but didn’t much think more of him than that. Even on the first watching, I was like, yeah, he did a good job with Boromir. But on this watching, I was amazed. He had a very challenging role. He had to act as a member of the fellowship while showing cracks in his veneer. He had to want the ring without making it overt. He had to cajole without coming across like he was the enemy. His best scene was when Frodo dropped the ring into the snow and Boromir picked it up. He stared at it, and like so many characters during the three movies, was entranced, was lured by its power. And yet he did not have the upper hand, and so couldn’t act on it. He stared at it longingly, wondering how so small a thing could control the fate of so many. And then when Aragorn insisted that he give the ring back to Frodo, he does so, but in a manner as if the ring means nothing to him. It was great, as were nearly all his scenes where the ring and his homeland were concerned.

The other outstanding actor? Brad Dourif as Wormtongue. It was too bad Wormtongue had such a small part in the movies. I won’t go so far as to say his talents were wasted,  but he could’ve done with more screen time, I think. His scenes where he was speaking with Eowyn and then later with Gandalf were filled with so much malice. It was great to watch, and to hear. He had some of the more elegant lines, I think. He became sort of an imp by the time he reached Orthanc, which was too bad, but I appreciated the time he had before that point.

Along with the standouts, there were also two weak performance. Now, I don’t mean they were bad actors, but as with anything, you’re going to be compared to those around you. The first was Cristopher Lee as Saruman. Now, to be fair, I think Lee did what he could with the lines he was given. He had the weakest writing out of anyone in the whole movie, I think. He was often relegated to playing the “exposition deliverer” because there was either no other easy way to deliver it or because the movie’s plot points had diverged from the novel. Also, he was hamstrung a bit during the various “wizard battles” between him and Gandalf, which did neither Ian McKellan nor Lee any favors. They simply looked too silly during those fights, and despite the decent effects, it came across like so many of the fantasy movies of the past in their bring-you-back-to-the-theater awkwardness. That being said, I think Lee was still a bit stiff. McKellan played Gandalf exceedingly well, and Lee suffered by comparison.

The other weak actor, I was a bit surprised to realize, was Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. I like Viggo. He’s done well in a number of films, but again, he was just not up to the caliber of those around him. There were several points in the movies where he has to drop his distant, ranger act and become human, like when the hobbits all kneel to him when he takes the crown at the top of Minas Tirith. I can’t quite put my finger on what was wrong with it, but it felt like acting as opposed to Aragorn being Aragorn. Another place where he falls short is in the final rallying of the troops before Minas Morgul. He runs his horse back and forth, saying there may be days when men fall, when they lack courage, but it is not this day. That one. Great speech, bad delivery. Trouble was, King Theoden, played by Bernard Hill, gave a similar speech to the Riders of Rohan before they rode down and attacked the orcs on the fields before Minas Tirith. That speech was awesome, inspiring, chill-inducing even. Aragorn’s was none of those things. You hardly believed that Viggo believed those words, much less his character. There were plenty of places where Viggo did well, but they were mostly during the silent, broody scenes, like in the Prancing Pony. Still, from a looks standpoint, Viggo was right on, so I’m not really complaining about the choice here. Just reflecting on something that surprised me.

How about you? Anyone watch the movies a few times and come across any surprises?