Good, but certainly not best of the year

Rating: 5/10 (1 January 2004)

This was much better than I expected and definitely better than "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," which was an excruciatingly dull (not to mention, seemingly endless) film.
I realize Tolkien's book wrapped up everything in the end, but, as a film, "The Return of the King" has way too many endings. But the action sequences are well done (although CGI is clearly evident in some battle scenes) and this time the film was engaging.
But it certainly is not the best film of 2003, though I am sure the Academy will laud it with numerous Oscar nominations and many would feel the film deserves Best Picture simply for the scope of the trilogy. But, this year, there are far better films deserving Best Picture nominations: "American Splendor," "Blue Car," "The Station Agent," "Swimming Pool," "Lost in Translation" just to name a few.