Jackson makes best of three with smart appreciation of entertainment

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2009)

Frodo, Sam and Gollum continue their quest for Mordor to destroy the one ring while the Battle for Middle Earth rages on.
The final part of Peter Jackson's epic trilogy was at the time, the highest grossing film ever to grace our screens and up until this film, fan hype and speculation was rightfully anticipating how the magician Jackson would conclude the wonderfully courageous adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's novel.
The previous release, The Two Towers, was showcased by an eccentric display by the director, orchestrating a once more beautifully cinematic approach to scenery and balancing it with a blend of tight and exciting war and fantasy concepts. He proved The Fellowship was no fluke and maintaining his flow in the sequel, the New Zealander was able to carry forth this momentum into the final part with the same vigour and energy as his previous two smashes. There are certainly cases here for the best shots of the entire trilogy. When Frodo is walking slowly and there is a huge spider looming makes great tension but, on a personal level, the best part of the entire series comes near to the end when Frodo and Sam are so very close to banishing the ring for good, and with one simple close shot, Jackson captures Frodo's feelings of desire and madness, which makes for a heart stopping and riveting twist.
Peter Jackson has certainly taken the magic of the novels and twisted and shot them into fan's favourites. The complexity of the battle sequences, the close eye upon constant political and action ideologies and weaving a tight knot around such a huge crew is a fantastic achievement and is only bettered by the fact he has made the legendary books into films for anyone of any age, for anytime of the year and for any situation. There is humour, romance, action, war, drama and significantly a wonderful sense of escapism with the fantasy genre, astounding stuff to recapture the critically acclaimed mind of J.R.R Tolkien's work.
One huge input into the success which still has fans in awe is the CGI Andy Serkis who blew audiences away with that voice and self manipulation. Smeagol opens proceedings here as his friend discovers the one ring at the bottom of the lake. Up to this stage we are fully aware of the ring's pull over Gollum, but there is a delightful shock in store when the real Andy Serkis sets his eyes upon it in his friend's hand. A wonderfully cut montage sees Gollum up the present and his still changing debate over how his master affects him.
Like the previous two films, there are multiple stories with the fellowship in the battle for Middle Earth, Frodo and Sam on their quest whilst there are numerous activities in the different parts of the country. The multiple concepts and issues flying around are smartly condensed into manageable moments of brilliance. Jackson has easily made the best of the three here, and rightfully and finally clinched his Oscar.