Very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I don't like fantasy and I have a bit of a vendetta against films that feel the need to go on for three hours. The moments when this film is on song are some of the best I've ever seen committed to film and I can't pick out a single bit of below-par acting: even Orloomdo Bland is tolerable.

There are bits when it plods along a little too slowly and nothing much seems to be happening, but largely those parts go unnoticed in the face of the epic events around them, stunningly directed by Jackson.