It's impossible to deny that, with his adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson redefined how epic fantasy could be filmed. From the lush landscapes of New Zealand standing in for Middle-earth and the intricate costume designs to the glorious computer graphics and strong performances throughout, not to mention the portrayal of Gollum - a game-changing moment in the history of cinema - he proved that seemingly unfilmable material could translate to the screen. The final installment of the trilogy, The Return of the King, took the spectacle to a whole new level, delivering some of the most impressive large scale battle sequences ever committed to film while bringing the sprawling narrative to its conclusion. Ably juggling the multiple storylines, the film converged in the awesome war to end all wars in which good finally triumphed over evil. That this was then followed by a very happy ending was to be expected - despite the fact that the film omitted the Scouring of the Shire, in which the hobbits return to discover their home taken over by ruffians, resolving the trilogy with a happy ending was on the whole faithful to the novel. But there's such a thing as overkill, and The Return of the King's ending had that by the bucketload. Note to Peter Jackson: one happy ending is enough - 30 minutes of it is enough to try anyone's patience.
