The Lord of Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The final battle to restore peace to Middle-earth has at last begun. At Gondor, Aragorn leads his followers to fight the remainder of the Ork army. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam are nearing the end of their journey, but dangers still lie ahead. There's a saying that goes, "All good things must come to an end."A lot of film franchises go on and on, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. With the Lord of the Rings, those familiar with the books know it couldn't go on forever.

The concluding part of a trilogy has perhaps more pressure on it to be good than the second part. Viewers hope to see questions answered and conflicts resolved. Many fans were severely disappointed by the third and final Matrix film. An advantage The Return of the King had, was that the book it's based on has a definite end. It gives closure, showing what happens to all the characters after the journey is over. Like it's predecessors, this final chapter is really great cinema.

Since the actors brought their A game in the first two, you'd hope they would for three. Each actor gives it their all and some that didn't get to do dramatic scenes before do here. Long before this film, Peter Jackson had already proven himself a fine director. Well, if his work here is not his absolute best it's at least a close second. It's the most exciting and engaging of the three, which is also thanks to the writing.

Howard Shore shines again with his score, but also incredible is the song by Annie Lennox. It only plays over the closing credits, but is so enchanting and fitting to the movie. The effects, both practical and visual, are breathtaking and are not likely to ever look dated. The look of the ghostly soldiers is especially cool and something a little different from the other two. As for the costumes and sets, they too are well above average and really take there.

This being the final installment, it's no surprise there are more epic battle scenes. These, plus the smaller moments involving Frodo, Sam and Gollum, are awesome and will leave you breathless. When some people see how long the film is, they may groan and complain about it. Don't let this turn you away or make you ill at ease because it's no problem at all. For a film that's over 3 hours long, it moves at a real swift pace and there's never a dull moment. Even the overly long ending, the film's biggest flaw, doesn't keep the film from being thoroughly entertaining.

There's a kind of sadness one feels when something like this series comes to an end. You get to know the characters and either root for them, or love to hate them. We're drawn deep into this magical world, but alas it eventually had to come to an end. So many big budget films that use a lot of CGI have no heart and are completely forgettable. In different hands, this may have been how this series had turned out. Luckily it was made by a group of actors and crew people who love what they do and to entertain.

10/10