LOTR 3: The Video Game

Rating: 1/10 (22 April 2004)

Many critics cite the 1952 film "The Greatest Show of Earth" as the poorest Best Picture selection in Academy history. That dubious distinction should now go to "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which makes DeMille's circus epic seem like the greatest show on earth in comparison. It was not only the Academy, but also the once-relevant New York Film Critics Circle that chose this film as the year's best. It's a wonder that the ghost of Pauline Kael didn't use her after-life influence with the All Mighty to strike the entire group dead.
This video game-like film goes from one chase scene to the next with little in the way of plot development. I've seen all three films and don't have a clue what the fellowship of the ring is, or the significance of the two towers, nor where the king was returning from. Director Jackson failed to include much in the way of plot exposition in nine plus hours of film!

The computer-generated Gollum was the most interesting character in the film; at least he wanted to kill off those annoying hobbits. Ian McKellen is distinguished in his knightly role and added a touch of class to the otherwise endless stream of special effects. The female stars of the film, Tyler and Blanchett, have so little screen time that it doesn't make sense to even have them in the film. Apparently Tyler's character is present merely to suggest that Mortensen's character is heterosexual. Why Blanchett has such an annoying smile on her face each fifteen seconds she is on screen is a mystery to me.