The Lord of the Rings/Middle Earth franchises have been two of the biggest names in the fantasy movie genre over the past several decades with new projects always seeming to be in high demand. But which of the franchise's is superior in the eyes of critics.
Looking at every movie from both franchises along with their scores on review aggregate site Metacritic, this list should hopefully paint a clear picture of each series' ups and downs throughout the years.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (39)
The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie continued the franchise's downward trend with critics but the box office returns appeared to dwindle somewhat also in this instance whilst still being one of the most successful movies released that year.
Even though it provided a closing story arc for one of the longest-running characters of the franchise, and teased the return of several others, Dead Men Tell No Tales emphasized the increasing loneliness of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, a performance which critics had grown progressively weary with over time.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (45)
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie to feature On Stranger Tides was actually far more normal than the preceding movies in the franchise but that didn't appear to have any impact with growing dissatisfaction amongst critics.
The movie was still another massive hit at the box office for the franchise but the astronomical costs of its production, making it reportedly the most expensive movie ever made, established the series as one that was now too big to fail and would continue in the face of any level of scrutiny or failure.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (50)
The third Pirates of the Caribbean movie followed directly on from the previous movie, Dead Man's Chest, in the back-to-back style of Back to the Future Parts II & III and would be last in the franchise from original director Gore Verbinski, neatly rounding an Original Trilogy for the series.
Still a big hit at the box office, fatigue had settled in for a significant number of critics with the convoluted plotlines and overall limited potential of the story.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (53)
A similarly massive hit at the box office despite a tepid reception from critics, Dead Man's Chest was the first sequel in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and the overpowering effect of its popularity with audiences secured the title as one that could survive without critical approval very early on in its lifespan.
Introducing a number of new villains and plot threads to add onto the original ensemble, the sequel is bursting with hugely elaborate alliances and betrayals that also flow over into At World's End, released just shy of a year later, not to mention its massive action set pieces.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (58)
Peter Jackson's first movie in his Hobbit Prequel Trilogy–which would end up actually bearing a number of similarities to George Lucas similarly-debated Star Wars prequels–was met with relatively little of the acclaim from his Lord of the Rings trilogy.
A long-gestating, and heavily restructured, project that was of huge interest to everyone in the movie community, An Unexpected Journey was too familiar in the end for a number of critics.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (59)
The final movie in Jackson's Hobbit trilogy was met with a similarly mixed bag of reviews from critics after a brief improvement with the second installment.
Taking what would have typically been the climax of the previous movie and adding it as the opening scene of Battle of the Five Armies, the finale can't be accused of being short on action spectacle with the enormity of the climax seeming to either captivate or overwhelm critics.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (63)
Orlando Bloom managed to dominate both the summer and winter movie box office of 2003 by starring in both Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King but it was Johnny Depp who stole the show and secured himself an Oscar nomination for his iconic performance.
The most well-received of the franchise by critics by quite a wide margin, Gore Verbinski's original Pirates of the Caribbean movie is a rip-roaring adventure that few can resist being swept up in.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Smaug (66)
The second Hobbit movie fared much better with critics than either of the other two entries in the trilogy, dealing with the main bulk of storytelling duties and appearing to confirm that the trilogy's fundamental issue with critics was a lack of sufficient story to spread out evenly over the 3 movies.
Finally introducing Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular dragon, and reintroducing Orlando Bloom as his character from the Lord of the Rings movies, Desolation of Smaug delivered a lot for fans and critics seemed more in tune with their satisfaction than usual.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (87)
The least well-reviewed movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy according to Metacritic's calculations, but the best-reviewed according to Rotten Tomatoes', Two Towers is–either way–a very highly-respected movie.
Expanding on everything that the first movie set up while introducing groundbreaking techniques to audiences, like Andy Serkis' motion-capture performance as Gollum, the movie has few peers in the fantasy genre as far as critics are concerned and they're all from the same trilogy.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (92)
The first Lord of the Rings movie has been one of the few movies to ever be compared to the success of the original Star Wars in 1977 and a majority of critics appear to echo sentiments of its greatness.
A surprising and clearly lovingly-crafted experience, Fellowship of the Ring irrevocably altered audiences' expectations for the fantasy movie genre in the future.
