What did you think about Legolas...before the movies?

[Nuranar]

I always liked him in the books. It's been a habit of mine for a long time to pick a favorite minor character (as opposed to the protagonist(s)) and follow that character throughout the book. At least of the members of the Fellowship, that character was Legolas. As has been said he is hard to get a handle on, but he is more...admirable in the books. I mean, as Diamond said, it's hard to get the aura right in a movie. The visual medium is both extremely powerful and very very subtle. It's hard to make a point that everyone will see without blasting it into their faces. With words, one can give shades of character and of the awe that attends even the "lesser" of the Elves. I definitely saw him as a warrior equal to Aragorn in might and skill, although not a swordsman. The greatness of him is not really depicted in the movies.

Not that Orlando didn't do a good job; on the contrary, for the most part I enjoy his portrayal. And Elves are indeed the fairest. The things that bother me most are deliberate character changes (i.e. Faramir), and the movie Legolas did not conflict strikingly with the mental image I had (character-wise, not physical appearance).