4 out of 5

Director: Peter Jackson

Apparently Im getting this backwards, because the trilogy, to me, starts to lose pace after the first film. Not a fan of the books, not a fan of fantasy, surely I am not the proper audience. Alas, my review trudges onward. In this installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, nothing really happens. I mean, a lot happens – as Frodo continues his journey with Gollum and Sam to get to Mount Doom, and as Aragorn and his crew unite kingdoms and search for those other two hobbits – Merry and Pippin – …but… not a lot really happens. The film crew, according to Wikipedia, stated that this film was the hardest to piece together, as it has no beginning or end, and while the film is still interesting, and stirring, that is the case. The first film had the true beginning of a quest feeling, and thus this starts strong, but ends just a few steps closer to the real conclusion of the 3rd film. Still, despite some re-hashed scenes that appear to try and sort out story pieces, this is a well-paced, fascinating epic, with Gollums interaction with Frodo equally balancing the larger set pieces with Aragorn. Unfortunately, theres still the cheesy love bits with Liv Tyler, which do nothing for me and just slow the mess down. And, again, as things wrap up youre just sort of left wanting. But, while slightly less motivated than the first film,175 minutes passes seamlessly enough.