The end of an imperfect epic

Rating: 7/10 (31 December 2014)

(66%) The very last chapter of this middle-earth based saga is one of mixed emotions. On the one hand it was nice to get a second bite of the cherry and have the likes of the greatness of McKellen's Gandalf, the charm and detail of the characters and locations, along the impressive action adventure of it all back again; but on the other this clearly shouldn't have been split into three long movies, as there is an even better two chapter movie swamped in there somewhere. Issues of the over use of CGI also hamper the series as it feels too much like a technical showcase, or a video game, with the decision of making the orcs almost entirely computer based being the more questionable and wrong footed. This though is still very much something worth a watch. Martin Freeman, despite him playing second fiddle in his own movie, is great; the action is plentiful without becoming overblown, and the ending is an almost perfect, funny conclusion. Now Mr Jackson, please make a gory horror movie.