Neil Benison

Tried to watch without expectation, I am a Tolkien nerd, but decided to try and watch it without judgement putting aside all of the changes and errors the Amazon production team have made. But, sorry to say its dull. There are parts where you can bask in the gorgeous shots and back drops, but I am wondering what the people raving about the cinematography are watching. The edit is awful, jumpy, to quick and badly timed transition. The blending of scenery and live action is laughable, see episode 1 galadriel treading water as a poor pull out is attempted, or episode 2 elrond walking through khazad dum. Writing is awful and inconsistent, "orcs spread to all corners of the world and multiplied" and "orcs haven't been seen in years" litterally moments apart. Was really surprised by the dwarves, best bit so far, forgetting that Durin IV was not the son of Durin III, the Prince was by far the best character and actor in the show. Harfoots? A race of people who don't seem to wash and have multiple accents, mainly irish/pirate, some even changing accents in cut scenes. If I was Irish I think I would have more to say on this. Whatever, the cardinal sin is I was bored, 2 hours in and we are feeling every second of it, with lavish expensive scenes to deliver inconsequential dialogue that does nothing to push forward the scene or story 1 is too good for this