J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord
of the Rings trilogy must pack so much into those novels that it’s a minor
miracle they were ever made into successful films. I’ve never read the books,
of course, but you get a sense by the third installment of director Peter
Jackson’s epic trilogy of adaptations that the final book is replete with an
abundance of minor and secondary characters all requiring a closing to their
arcs. The effect is a film that is bloated and overblown, but at the same time
a visual wallop and a great piece of entertainment filmmaking.
