Worst of the trilogy, but still fantastic

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2007)

The worst of the trilogy, but still an outstanding film. It suffers from both middle child syndrome (no clear-cut beginning or end) and too many story lines (especially near the end), but it still manages to be an incredible achievement. Gollum is superb, both as a special effect and a character. Andy Serkis truly gave the best performance of the film, though Viggo Mortensen was quite excellent as well in a much bigger role. New characters are given the same layered performances as all of the originals. The battle at Helm's Deep and the March of the Ents are amazing to watch, and, once again, the technical aspects are superb. It's just too bad that Gandalf wasn't in it more.