This movie and the whole trilogy deserves all the praise it has received.
I had been worried about seeing it because of how much Peter Jackson re-wrote "Two Towers" and presented scenes that undermined some of Tolkien's fundamental ideas. This time, Jackson followed Tolkien more closely and the worst that can be claimed are sins of omission. It's a real shame we didn't get to see Christopher Lee in this move; he totally rocked in the previous films. Telling us to wait for the "extended" version isn't right. Maybe Jackson should have foregone one of the too many endings in ROTK to give Lee some film time. That said, all the elements that worked in the previous movies were absolutely glorious in this film. The one new thing that I would add to so much that has already been written is that big kudos must go to the great Tolkien artists Alan Lee and John Howe whose artistry shaped so much of the imagery from the first moments of FOTR to the final scenes of ROTK. This historic trilogy would not have been the same without them. The LOTR enterprise has clearly been a great labor of love from all who worked on it over the years, and this final installment was a crowning achievement.
I had been worried about seeing it because of how much Peter Jackson re-wrote "Two Towers" and presented scenes that undermined some of Tolkien's fundamental ideas. This time, Jackson followed Tolkien more closely and the worst that can be claimed are sins of omission. It's a real shame we didn't get to see Christopher Lee in this move; he totally rocked in the previous films. Telling us to wait for the "extended" version isn't right. Maybe Jackson should have foregone one of the too many endings in ROTK to give Lee some film time. That said, all the elements that worked in the previous movies were absolutely glorious in this film. The one new thing that I would add to so much that has already been written is that big kudos must go to the great Tolkien artists Alan Lee and John Howe whose artistry shaped so much of the imagery from the first moments of FOTR to the final scenes of ROTK. This historic trilogy would not have been the same without them. The LOTR enterprise has clearly been a great labor of love from all who worked on it over the years, and this final installment was a crowning achievement.