Arts

Film: The Return of the King

I'll level with you: this isn't my cup of tea.

For two years now I've been lazy and arrogant with my words about Lord of the Rings, but during the final film I realised the truth: my opinion is simply based on taste, and this isn't the kind of film that I generally enjoy.

That said, this concluding episode was a treasure. There's no denying the breathtaking scale of the settings. And while I considered the first instalment to be too linear and the second to be too complex, the third kept the two main story-lines driving each other ahead without losing sight of each other. The effects were magnificent, the sound spot-on. If this film doesn't win any Oscars I'll be very surprised.

Rumour has it Peter Jackson will be following the trilogy up with an adaptation of The Hobbit. I'm not sure whether to watch that or not; I guess I'll have a few years in which to decide.

And with any luck it'll be just the one film. I've just not been able to keep the various threads running through Lord of the Rings fresh in my mind over the two years that span the releases.

But I don't mean to detract from the accomplishment. Filming the trilogy has been a landmark in recent cinema, and I'm glad to have seen them all.