Oh wow I 100% disagree with you (respectfully). I think the opening sequence of LotR with narration is super lazy storytelling. Narrative exposition is a great way to give a bunch of info quickly but it is the most boring way. It is just information download for the viewer.
More importantly it failed at, least for me, to establish what is and isn’t widely known about the world to the characters. Made me always wonder what took Gandalf so long to figure out that the ring Bilbo found was Sauron’s ring until I realized nobody is really meant to know it right away.
It would have been a lot more satisfying if the story was revealed slowly, with a major chunk of it discovered on screen through the conversation with Elrond.
Haha I never realized gandalf wasn't supposed to know. I always thought he just thought it would be safe with Bilbo because sauron didn't know Bilbo had it so it gave gandalf time to plan what to do with it.
You are correct that the first rule of film making is show don't tell.
gandalf already suspects that bilbo has found something extremely important in the hobbit. In Fellowship he throws the ring into the fire merely to confirm what he already certainly knows.
Seeing a massive battle between multiple armies and having sauron show up with the ring is ... super lazy storytelling? Huh? It has nothing to do with Gandalf. Also, Gandalf doesn't know and he confirms it indirectly through research which is also shown in the movie....
More importantly it failed at, least for me, to establish what is and isn’t widely known about the world to the characters. Made me always wonder what took Gandalf so long to figure out that the ring Bilbo found was Sauron’s ring until I realized nobody is really meant to know it right away.
It would have been a lot more satisfying if the story was revealed slowly, with a major chunk of it discovered on screen through the conversation with Elrond.
Again, my opinion.