You Are All Going To Hate Me, But...

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2004)

Am I the only one who wasn't totally satisfied with this third installment of the trilogy? Did anyone else find it curiously empty and lacking, at least compared to the first two? Call me crazy, but "The Return of the King" seemed long (really long)on special effects and short on good dialogue. Don't get me wrong, the digital animation was impressive, but after awhile all the huge overhead slow-motion battle scenes and cityscapes left me fidgety and glassy-eyed. I realize this is a director's interpretation of a very long and complex novel, but the many departures from Tolkien's real story were upsetting as well. And where the hell was Saruman??? Couldn't Jackson have cut out just a few of the battle images to make room for the scene where Gandalf and the hobbits meet Saruman and Grima in the woods? That's one of my favorite sequences in the novel! Well, it'll probably be on the extended-cut DVD that I'll feel obliged to shell out $45 for. Makes me wonder, who's the real Dark Lord--Sauron, or New Line Entertainment? Just kidding.