Film improves with second viewing

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2003)

When watching this for the first time I felt that the final hour was flawed. These problems however are not as important on second viewing. The main issue is that of editing. The battle of Helm's Deep is clearly the major set piece of the film, however it is unfortunately interrupted by other scenes, that is those involving Merry, Pippen and Frodo. These interruptions lead to a clear loss in momentum and tension. When you watch this film again though the problem is not that important, because on repeat viewings you are concerned less with tension anyway and focus more on the vision of the film makers.
One of the most interesting things about the endings is how dark it is. When first viewing the film it is easy to come away thinking that it had ended in a happy, and perhaps overly sentimental manner. This is so if you take away the film's final five minutes. However the scene of Gollum and Smeagol deciding to kill Frodo and Sam is at almost polar opposites to the scene involving Frodo and Sam which came before and means that we should be able to look forward to a final film which isn't just a plain action film, but relying equally on characterisation and visual artistry.