A late reply to you both. It was all the elves--including, to me, Galadriel--which suffered and not merely Legolas.

Hmm. Hmmm. Who is being hasty? ;) This assumes that there is no "art" in movies, only depiction of already existing reality, no representation, just presentation.

David Lean could have depicted the elves or, for a more contemporary director, Zhang Yimou. I thinkEsty is bang on that Jackson's filmic style or philosophy doesn't incorporate qualities needed to imagine elves on the screen.

Folwren, I haven't heard a great deal of jokes about Legolas' hair or the way he walks. IMHO he gets maligned just as much as other characters whom people thought "lost something" in the book to movie transition. Perhaps you are overly sensitive to Legolas jokes?

I certainly don't dislike him because of his good looks. It's only fair that an elven prince should be a fangirl favourite. And if he does indeed walk like a ballerina, then good for him and PJ too! He's an elf, after all!

I believe the reason why people tend to pick on movie Legolas is because of his clipped dialogue, his Captain Obvious tendency, and his lack of range of facial expressions. I particularly hate the way he looks east rather than west as he "senses" the Uruk Hai approaching while the Fellowship is paddling their merry way down the Anduin. Just a petty little gripe, I know, and not Orlando's fault, but there you have it...

I don't think it's because of me being over sensitive...I'm never been attached to Legolas in any particular way. I really have heard a lot of jokes about him. More than the other characters.

Haha! Very funny. *chuckle* But, no, really he doesn't walk like a ballerina, and he doesn't run like one, either. Have you ever seen a ballerina run? It's one of the most humorous spectacles in the world. My sister's nearly a professional dancer and she runs in a most commical way. I ask her to play hide-and-seek practically just to watch...

No...not the jokes I've heard cracked about him. It's his good looks and his running...

Except for my sister, brother, and I. Yes, we did laugh about his clipped lines.

I don't recall. Why does that bother you? In the book does he look west instead of east?

-- Folwren

In the book, he doesn't have a Jedi-like ability to sense Uruks. In the book, it may have made some sense for him to look towards the eastern shore, as the "archers of Mordor" attack them from that side. But that (excellent) passage was not carried through to the movie.

Sad to say, yes it does bother me that he looks the wrong way, just because it was obvious to me that, travelling south, the western shore (from which Legolas sensed the Uruk Hai of Saruman were approaching) would have been on his right side rather than his left. Just one of those continuity issues that pedantic people pick up on, I suppose! ;)