Interesting that I heard this a lot about Part II, and yet I think I enjoyed the first one more and found it more compelling and better paced.

I've only seen Part 2 one time though, so I need to watch again to reabsorb now that I understand the story unfolding. Maybe my opinion on the pacing will change.

Still refreshing to have such visually interesting scifi/fantasy films that take themselves seriously and are well done.