Excellent continuation of the saga

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2003)

The continuation of Peter Jackson's epic trilogy is even more impressive than the first outing. The technical achievements remain spellbinding and the performances crisp. Minus the exposition of the first film, this one gets down to business from the getgo and keeps the pace going for most of the film. A few of the subplots do tend to drag a bit, but the big battle scenes are absolutely fantastic and the film is a major accomplishment. Too bad we have to wait a year for the conclusion of the saga. GRADE: A