i loved lord of the rings growing up, played so many of their games, read a couple of the books but not all.
i think everyone giving this a 1 star is judging it prematurely.
like only first or third episode.
they are world building at the start, introducing characters and scenes. it is slow but then picks up and just keeps getting better each episode.
people complaining about characters being 1 dimensional. elves are 1 dimensional characters. and people who complain about the cgi. you are wrong. the cgi is great. you are just being picky to be picky.
sure there are some things not exactly the same as the book. but the era they chose doesn't have everything written out so they can do things differently and freely. which is a bad but a good thing. it still feels like lord of the rings and is way better than what the hobbit was so theres that. honestly hating on black elf, short hair elf or female dwarfs without beards. so what for one its not riddled with PC politics pushing an agenda its just raw lord of the rings in an era thats not fully told. and its great