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Pros and Cons of Jackson's LOTR
Tweig & Family

With all the controversy over Jackson, changes to the story, portrayal of characters, etc, I figured that it would be a good idea to try and balance the pros and cons of Jackson’s movies.

Pro: No matter how bad it is, it has to be better that Bakshi.

Pro: Jackson has basically no previous experience with fantasy movies. I have often wondered if Bakshi’s “Wizards” (1977) did not make him think LOTR would be easy.

Pro: The Cast. Jackson has assembled probably the best cast anyone in Hollywood could have done. Anyone who doubted Elijah Wood as Frodo, just see the preview!

Pro: Jackson is a fan, not just a director hired to make a movie out of a book he’s never heard of.

Pro: He’s not afraid to make changes. This may sound like a bad thing but: if the Tolkien fans stay away from the movies because they’re bad, the movies will bomb. Jackson is not stupid enough to chance that.

Pro: Most of the changes are minor. Arwen being exchanged for Glorfindel at the ford, Legolas has throwing knives (I love that one personally!).

Pro: Tom Bombadil is gone (I’m going to get a lot of heat for this one). Removing Tom has given PJ the time to cover the history of the Ring, complete with the battle of Gil-Galad and Elendil vs. Sauron at the Last Alliance.

Pro: As PJ says in the preview “Technology has caught with the incredible imagination Tolkien had. And so, this is the time”. He’s right folks! Just see the preview to see what they’re capable of at WETA. And remember: we haven’t seen the Balrog, who should be the most awesome being ever seen in a movie, and we haven’t seen the Jar-Jar Binks killer, Gollum.

Con: Jackson has never worked on a movie of this scale (then again, who has?).

Con: “XenArwen: Warrior Princess”. Actually I think we’ve all went a little overboard with this as we have not seen the script. However, it is a problem, although not the one I have the most trouble with (for that, see the next one).

Con: Elves at Helms Deep. This really worries me. PJ’s filming scenes from the Second Age, the Last Alliance of men and elves, and then goes and puts elves at Helms Deep? Some Last Alliance. Again however, we have not seen the script.

Con: Legolas’ hair. Its blond. This may sound like I’m making a big deal out of nothing but: Legolas is a Sindarin elf, an elf who never went to Valinor. Therefore he should have black hair. Only the house of Finarfin, who was of Valinor, had blond hair. If PJ choose to disregard that, what else might be changed?

Only time will tell in the end, after we’ve all seen the movies. I firmly hope that the pros will outweigh the cons when all is said and done.