As a film in its own right The Return Of The King is one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen; as a trilogy nothing rivals it.
The Return Of The King and the preceding installments in the trilogy are a demonstration of artistically and commercially successful filmmaking. Wachowski brothers take note.
The performances of Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood and Miranda Otto are all once again excellent. Worthy of special mention is Andy Serkis who is simply stunning as Gollum/Smeagol.
The scale and grandeur of the whole project is astonishing. The breath-taking New Zealand countryside is second only to the special effect shots, seamlessly embedded, which create the truly epic stage for this saga to play out upon.
And director Peter Jackson uses everything to his advantage handling proceedings with an assurance the like of which we may see never again. He manages to create an arresting sense of tension in all of the intertwining storylines and delivers an array of emotions through intense battle scenes and touching portrayals of loyalty and kinship with considerable style.
The preceding chapters of The Fellowship Of The Ring and The Two Towers have afforded The Return Of The King beautifully developed characters and a genuinely compelling storyline but it can also be enjoyed alone. Put simply it’s essential viewing.
5 out of 5 stars
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