27/12/03

The journey ends and the epic Lord Of The Rings trilogy finishes. To be honest this final film is an epic in its own right and at three hours and twenty minutes any film will have you wishing for more comfortable seats. Thankfully this film keeps the interest going as it rejoins the various characters at their different places in the story and adds new problems to keep them from destroying the ring or ever getting a good night's sleep.

There is no denying the film's length and I feel there are various small edits that could made in the main chunk of the film. It is the ending, however, that gives the most trouble. Rather it is the multiple endings which try the audience's patience. Whilst apprieciating that the book takes even longer to tie up all the endings after the final battle, it is a little much for the poor customers' bottoms to have to watch yet more goodbyes and partings and surely a longer edit could have been saved for the extended DVD release.

That said, the film is a success with battle scenes aplenty, tension increased relentlessly and characters tested everywhere you look. The film has a good sense of pace; changing from the heart-pumping action; to the quiet before, during and after battle seamlessly. The attention to production design detail and backdrop of a lovingly shot New Zealand are all present and correct as we have come to expect from the earlier two films.

As for the plot; Frodo, Sam and Gollum head for Mordor still. The dynamic between these three is well realised and is thankfullky capable of providing humour as well as tension. All the other characters, more or less, make their way to Minas Tirith to save the unprepared city from Sauron's motley hords of orcs, trolls and superior machinrery and enormous oliphants.

The major battle is phenominal. It takes its starting point from the battle of Helm's Deep (in the Two Towers) with siege towers and battering rams, but is transformed by the calvalry charge of the Rohirrim and the appearance of the oliphants.

I suspect that Peter Jackson enjoy shooting his battles and monsters more than anything else. The many different mosters stand out in their amazing realisation which show a vast amount of research and dedication on behalf of WETA. The oliphants, the dead men, the Nazgul and above all, the giant spider demonstrate this beautifully. Even having seen the symboitic and sensitive creation that is Gollum in the previous film these monsters are still impressive.

The final battle feels a little like a battle too far with no ideas left over to make it come alive and possibly audience exhaustion by this point.

The film is a jaw-dropping achievement, but one that probably has to be seen in the context of the previous two films of the trilogy.