Generally speaking, few movies or television programs are original ideas anymore. Most are based on some basic formula, which has been used time and time again.
Hollywood today is selling image and stars and car chases and explosions. Most stories are thin at best when it comes to plot, character development and dialogue. Instead we get sound bites and clunky cliches which tire quickly.
Adaptation of any book to screen is a difficult task. Even with the changes in the story, the first 90 minutes of Fellowship was pretty slow going.
