Why it's good to have this gorgeous Elf around:

• He's can't be bother to be bothered by raging snowstorms. *huh?*
• He can run on snow.
• He can tell a sparrow from a finch a league away.
• He recycles (i.e. his arrows).
• He can build boats.
• He sings.
• He climbs trees.
• He can fight with sword.
• He loves nature.
• He readies an arrow on a bow faster than the eye can follow.
• He's very good at standing watch.
• He knows how to navigate fast rivers.
• He's got a killer aim.
• He rides horses bareback (unlike the ugly men).
• He's royalty.
• He has a way with good animals.
• He's not afraid of the Dead of Men.
• He's gorgeous *that's why Mr. Bloom was chosen for the part* (written by J.R.R. Tolkien, confirmed by P. Jackson)

Some 'not' upsides:

• He sleeps with his eyes open as is the way of the Elves, which is a little creepy.
• He can be stubborn (example. refusing to be blindfolded in Lórien).
• No way can you keep up with him if he picks up the pace.
• He doesn't mind Elf-caves, but he'd pay diamonds to be let out of the caves of Dwarves - if he got lost in them (they are darker and MUCH deeper than elven caves).
• The nicknames he bestows on people aren't exactly flattering. (example. waking up Merry with the term 'Master Sluggard').
• You can't hear him sneak up on you, the lightfooted Elf that he is

The Movie Legolas

Appearence (these quotes aren't mine)

Appearance:

• Though Tolkien never specified the colour of Legolas' hair, it's blond in the films.
• His eyes are blue.
• Legolas has been dubbed 'Armani Elf' by the LOTR wardrobe department
• 'Orlando wears a long, blond-plaited wig and gelatin Elf ears, as well as some gorgeous embroidered art nouveau-inspired Elf garb and some fetching knee-high lace-up boots.'
• "Orlando Bloom looks an expert archer and his Legolas always has his bow to the ready with a leathern quiver of arrows at his back."
  Source: Sir Ian McKellen, go to McKellen.com

Character

• The adjectives 'cool' and 'feisty' have been applied to him.
• "Legolas doesn't speak a lot--he prefers to let his actions speak for him."
  Source: Orlando Bloom *yum*

Fighting

• He's able to shoot with two arrows.
• The Elven style of fighting is "based on a kind of ancient European/Asian style of martial arts."
  Source: Orlando Bloom
• "I wanted him to be substantial, a red-blooded fighting machine."
  Source: Orlando Bloom
• "Legolas' moves are smooth and elegant, like a cat. You know how cats can jump and land steadily on their paws? That's what I'm trying to do. There's a strength in that, but it's very balletic. It's also bloody hard to do without falling over!"
  Source: Orlando Bloom
• Orlando Bloom confirmed that he is firing three shots in rapid succession in the forest when the Fellowship are pursued by Uruk-hai, but the arrows where later added by CG.

What was not added to the film

• Legolas shooting the horse of the Nâzgul leader.
• Legolas' explanation about the river Nimrodel.
• Gimli meeting Galadriel (which is the start of his friendship with Legolas).
• Though all the Fellowship receive gifts from Galadriel, Legolas getting the bow of the Galadhrim, only Frodo's gift from Galadriel is shown.
• At Boromir's funeral neither Aragorn nor Legolas sing a mourning song.

Helping out

• When the first barrage of snow hits the Fellowship on Caradhras, Legolas pushes Gandalf out of the way.
• In Moria, when Boromir nearly falls down a fissure, Legolas grabs him and pulls him back.
• In Moria, the Fellowship attempts to outrun the Balrog by jumping over a chasm. Legolas jumps first and catches Gandalf. He also saves Gimli from falling into the fissure by grabbing onto his beard.

Memorable moments

Legolas and Gimli

The banter between Legolas and Gimli will be more comedic than in the books.
From: Tolkien Online

The comic contrast between the boisterous dwarf and the elegant elf becomes a constant source of humor and delight.
Source: LordoftheRings.net

"But Gimli hates the elves. There's a long history of bad blood between the elves and the dwarves. One of the films' arcs - to use that awful, wretched expression - is coming to know Legolas. Gimli overcomes his suspicion and ultimately becomes completely captivated by Legolas."
~ John Rhys-Davies, From Big Little Man, Starlog article, Nov 2001

"Initially, he can't stand Gimli the dwarf. Elves see dwarfs as these muddy creatures who steal from the Earth without giving anything back. But their relationship develops, partially through having to rely on each other. They grow to respect each other's differences. By the time they go into battle, they're having a laugh, comparing their battle scores."
~ Orlando Bloom, from Force of Hobbit

"I think it was something he (Tolkien) was playing with as he created this Fellowship that there would be this rift. I think that they represent different philosophy rather than a different racial attitudes. The Elves see and have foreseen the greed of the Dwarves or what they perceive as the greed of the Dwarves. What Legolas comes to understand, for example, is that the Dwarves love of beauty and I think its so wonderful that, for example, that Gimli the Dwarf falls in love with a beautiful Elf. When I say falls in love with, he is gob-smacked literally with the great beauty, he is. In their hearts, Dwarves have a deep, deep love of beauty and beautiful things. So something that Legolas would initially characterize as greed in Gimli, he begins to see something deeper, that there is a love for preserving this beauty that the Dwarves have. Which is interesting. And also that Gimlis antagonism towards Legolas is again slightly sort of philosophical, that he does not have an understanding of the way in which Elves would do something. That they have no appreciation for something like the Glittering Caves. Legolas has no interest in them."
~ Philippa Boyens (LotR screenwriter), from LordoftheRings.net interview

Quotes

'Five hundred times have the red leaves fallen in Mirkwood in my home since then,' said Legolas, 'and but a little while does that seem to us.'
Source: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Balrog is a survivor from the Silmarillion and the legends of the First Age. [...] It is observable that only the Elf knows what the thing is - and doubtless Gandalf.
Source: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1: The Elf in question is Legolas)

There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood.
Source: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

'Only one of us is an Elf, Legolas from the Woodland Realm in distant Mirkwood.' (Aragorn)
Source: J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers