The third is the best of all

Rating: 1/10 (17 December 2003)

I was not a huge fan of Fellowship of the Ring when I first saw it. The Two Towers was an improvement, though I still could not figure out why so many people were putting these films on such a pedestal. Since then, the two films have grown on me and I was actually psyched to see Return of the King.
It proved to be the best of the lot. The movie was long, but it didn't feel long. The action, characters and storylines are now more familiar to me than when I first saw Fellowship and Return of the King proved to be an entertaining and rewarding experience.
The acting, as with the previous entries, is excellent. The dialogue is crisp. The special effects, mindblowing. And the storytelling, though sometimes confusing, is for the most part captivating.

Frodo's approach to the fiery pit of Mount Doom probably ranks as the trilogy's single best sequence.
Much has been said about the movie's number of endings. I think they were appropriate and welcome groups of epilogues.
Because a lot of the moviegoing public is on a Lord of the Rings high, not a whole lot is said about the trilogy's flaws. And just like in the previous entries, this film has its share.
For one, there has been some talk about a homoerotic chemistry between Frodo and Sam in the previous films. Well, you ain't seen nothing yet. There were times where I thought Frodo and Sam were perfectly capable of planting a big wet one on each other's lips and declaring their love for one another. Imagine Han Solo stopping in the middle of the Death Star to proclaim his feelings for Luke Skywalker and you get the idea. Merry and Pippin have similar scenes. It was just too distracting. There's also a lot of crying in this film. But to the film's credit, Peter Jackson somehow makes it work.
I was also disappointed there were not more scenes of wizardry and magic. A lot is said about how the Lord of the Rings trilogy blows away the Star Wars prequels with its use of special effects. I have to say that while that is true to a degree, some of what is up in Return of the King looks like CGI. Sometimes, though rarely, horribly so.
Viggo Mortensen, for me, steals the show as Aragorn. He's kinda like the Lord of the Rings version of Han Solo, but more fleshed out. He's tough, cool and a lady's man, but there's room here for more human characteristics.

Ian McKellan's performance as Gandalf ranks right up there as well. The other characters, like Gimli and Leogalas, have become loveable and kind of like old friends. We're glad to see them and glad to see their competitive friendship in the heat of battle.
Finally, I was really concerned when I heard that Christopher Lee's scenes were deleted. I still say that was a mistake, but it was not nearly as distracting as I thought it would be.
This was a great, satisfying way to end the trilogy and, for once, the third film is the best film.