Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the ancient kings as he, Gandalf and the other members of the broken fellowship struggle to save Gondor from Sauron's forces. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam take the ring closer to the heart of Mordor, the dark lord's realm.
Some story strands are crudely abbreviated; others fail to develop elements that were already well-established.
– Tom Charity,
Time Out,
9 Feb 2006
fresh:
Standing out amid an excellent cast is Elijah Wood, stymied by tweeness in the earlier films but here convincingly developing the character of Frodo as the embodiment of valor and self-sacrifice.
– Andrea Gronvall,
Chicago Reader,
6 Feb 2007
fresh:
Yes, the running time is long, and yes, those many endings in a slow, dreamy coda left me feeling spent -- better spent than I can ever remember.
– Joe Morgenstern,
Wall Street Journal,
19 Nov 2013
fresh:
The Return Of The King ultimately proves up to the series' increasingly difficult task: making movies that echo legends, making legends that reflect life, and reconciling it all with the fact that both legends and lives all eventually meet their ends.
– Keith Phipps,
AV Club,
19 Nov 2013
fresh:
With The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson delivers a decent ending to his fantasy trilogy -- actually, about 12 endings.