Fitting end to epic trilogy

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2003)

The major 2 trilogies of recent times have been Lord of the Rings and the Matrix. While the Matrix clearly peaked during its first installment, with the Two Towers it was clear that Lord of the Rings was capable of getting better all the time. Now, with Return of the King we see the final part, and it was certainly worth the wait.
Having never read any of the books I cannot compare or judge the movies compared to them, but I can judge the movies on their own merit. And ROTK is a fine piece of cinema with a touch of everything a movie needs. It has action, adventure, cracking direction, mouth-dropping scale, good dialogue, a dash of comedy, and a gripping storyline. One could argue it is a tad convoluted due to the number of locations and characters referred to throughout, but it really doesn't detract from the quality.
ROTK sees Sam and Frodo on their final part of the journey to the volcano, with Aragorn and chums engaging in battle with Orcs who're trying to take the City of Kings. I think that's what it's about anyway...
The special effects are, again, marvellous, and are utterly breath-taking when seeing mass armies of thousands colliding with one another. The acting is good again, with characters we unquestionably care about.
There aren't really any flaws with this, and it's definitely better than Two Towers. Only Fellowship of the Ring comes close, and I'd actually it's pretty even between the 2.
Overall, superb film and fitting end to what has been a great adaptation.