Nothing new

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2003)

Let me start this comment by saying that this is a great movie. Probably in my top 20 all time. However, I was not satisfied when I left the theater. Although a worthy conclusion to the movie, which was very much according to the book, there was very little new to this movie.
Where "Fellowship" had the freshness about it that came from being the first movie, and "Two towers" added a lot in the development of the relationship between Frodo and Gollum, the new Gandalf and the battle at Helmsdeep, most of the scenes in "Return" have been seen before. The stupidity of the orcs are starting to get boring now. The battle, although a great scene, was not that different from the battle at Helmsdeep, and even the beautiful scenery is getting a little bit boring now.
That said, there are still a lot of great parts, especially with the efforts of Frodo. We're discovering new sides of Sam and the scene with the destruction of the Ring is overwhelming. Some of my more enthusiastic friends have said that the only negative they could come up with was that the movie had too many endings. However, I don't agree with this criticism, as this is according to the book, and everything that goes on after the destruction of the ring, are necessary to wrap up and bring a worthy conclusion to the epic. We're talking about about 9 hours of film here!
I can't help but wonder what this movie would have been if the scenes with Saruman had still been included. I'm very much looking forward to the directors cut DVD.