I never had a problem with the stuff they omitted in the first movie, and what they added (the Arwen/Aragorn arc) was canonical. That is, it might not have been in the actual novels, but it was in the appendices. It was faithful to what Tolkien wrote. I also fully understand that you can’t tell a story on screen exactly the same way you do in a book. Fine.

I was so prepared to adore The Two Towers. And it truly was an awesome movie. However, I’m not as impressed as I was with the Fellowship, and I certainly am more disgruntled about the liberties they’ve taken with the story this time. Not only are the changes unfaithful to Tolkien, it’s not at all obvious why they had to make them.

I’m giving Peter Jackson the benefit of the doubt until I’ve seen The Return of the King next year. Perhaps some of the perceived wrongs will be righted then.

On the plus side, Gollum is wonderfully done, Rohan and the Helm’s Deep scene are amazing, the Ents rock. In about a week, when more people have seen it, I’ll go into what detractions I didn’t like. But right now I don’t want to give anything away.