I had the feeling the director had a crush on the Arwen actress - her part was WAY too big! Plus, he and his writing partner admitted that they didn’t want Aragorn to be too noble and brave. More modern to have weaker man and woman in control. Not at ALL like the book!
Yes, that’s the problem ... “more modern.” The only parts I really liked were the scenery, and Elrond looking like Sam Neill in a bad mood. I really like Sam Neill.
I’d imagine with Aragorn (and Denethor) that they couldn’t see how to explain the difference between those men (who could live to be 300) and regular men, at least to non-readers who might watch the movie anyway. Given the time constraints, I think they did a good job. As for the female characters, Tolkien DID have Eowyn kill the Witch-King of Angmar (a good twist on the prophecy he felt protected him), and in the end both of the women ended up as wives instead of self-made successful businesswomen. Arwen in fact gave up a lot to be with a man, and Aragorn was hardly portrayed as weak & modern; in fact, the Rohirrim acknowledge him as a leader while their own king still lives. Most importantly, like Faramir, he can resist the power of the ring, which even Galadriel finds difficult; his willingness to battle against hopeless odds in very “un-modern”, and the violence he could inflict was very Mad Max-like. The litmus test was whether they showed the southerners as dark savages, which they did (riding oliphants and all). There were none of the now-required tokens in the movies, except maybe Legolas as the token poofter.