I liked Eowyn in the theater version. She seemed as she should be cold, hard, and determined. The comic relief scene in the EE version changed my impression of her. She seems younger, flightier, less certain of herself. She seems like some love struck teen.
I liked Boromir in the movie FOTR way more than I liked him in the book, but the EE version, with that Denethor/Boromir/Faramir scene, gave me a completely new vision of Boromir. His father sent him to steal the ring from the start?! What a family of ring grabbers! The ring didn’t corrupt Boromir, his father did. I had always thought that Boromir was a good man who had merely fallen victim to the power of the ring. Who knew!
It seems the entire house of Denethor is a brood of vipers and unfortunately for Tolkien’s vision of Faramir, cruel and obtuse, he seems the ‘lesser man’ of the two viper sons. The Extended Edition may make Faramir more sympathetic, but in a pathetic sort of way. His father is mean and cruel to him, so he is mean and cruel to others (particularly Gollum). He seems someone without the power of mind and spirit to over come an unfortunate beginning. Needless to say, he is nothing like the virtuous Faramir of Tolkien’s book. I did not like Jackson’s treatment of Faramir in any of his versions of the story.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that although they are barely mentioned by Tolkien in ROTK, Aragorn and Arwen, are the ones Jackson chose to focus on as the main romantic couple. Eowyn and Faramir, Tolkien’s major romance, could not be allowed to compete, so their characters were expendable.
It would have been better for me if they had just left them both out like they did Bombadil. Seeing them treated so poorly makes any version of The Two Towers difficult to watch.
I do think that Jackson will be able to do a good job with the Hobbit. It is a much more conventional type of story. The characterizations do not require as much depth. There are grand battles and special effects requirements that PJ should be able to handle easily. I look forward to seeing it someday.
My theory about Faramir, widely scorned (but still right! < g >) is that modern filmmaking shrinks from portraying genuine nobility
I agree with you, Dan and little jeremiah.