[stacilayne]

That's a good point. I was at Comic-Con, but couldn't make the screening. But they next day it was like everyone who saw it drank the KoolAid with their popcorn... They said Peter Jackson introduced the film and then sat with them throughout the screening and after that, select journalists took part in a "fireside chat" with him. I think such a lovely, intimate introduction to the movie probably helped ease it in as "good" in many people's minds. I interviewed Jackson before I saw the movie, and he certainly painted a wonderful picture of it... and so when I saw it a few days later, I was disappointed. I thought there would be a lot more about the sociopolitical atmosphere in the world as a whole, not just the battle between the two figureheads. I also just really didn't like the way the lead character was presented.