LOTR: The Return of the King: wow, I'm just gonna say, wow.

It's a known fact that most sequels stink. Nine times out of ten, a follow-up will lack something of a punch, or they can't grab that energy that was in the first time outing of a story or characters.

With a great deal of relief, I can honestly say that this is a film that doesn't stink. With director Peter Jackson at the helm, this final installment of The Lord of the Rings packs plenty of punch and spectacle onto the screen, and does it with a credible talent.

Picking up just where The Two Towers left off, we find Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) at the ruins of Isengard when Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Aragorn (Vigo Mortenssen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) catch up with them. But there is little respite for the remains of the Fellowship.

The last kingdom of Men is under seige from the forces of Mordor, and a nearly endless supply of Orcs and other unwholesome things are ready to go and ruin all good things. Only the people of Minas Tirith remain, and it seems that it will fail too.

Interspersed with the siege of Minas Tirith is the struggle of Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin), along with their guide, Gollum. Making that last push for Mount Doom, where Frodo has to summon the strength to cast the Ring into the fires where it was forged is nearly too much for everyone to bear, and it's done with convincing tension and emotion.

Most of all, it's the special effects and battle sequences that make this one a film to watch. The scope and effects are enormous, with huge battering rams, siege towers, huge armies, and even the gigantic Oliphaunts ranging on the horizon and crushing everything underfoot.

To balance it all, the stories remain intensely personal as well, from the one between Merry and Eowyn (Miranda Otto), who to ease her heartache over Aragorn, rides to battle; Pippin and his service to the mad Steward of Gondor, and of course, that of Sam and Frodo. It's this that keeps the film from merely being one long sword-fest, and makes it worth watching.

And then there is all of the small details, from the armour and swords, to the Celtic/Nordic designs of the Rohirrim, and even the Orcs get to have personalities as well. Keeping to the original ideas of Tolkein, these made the books come alive for me, and I kept thinking That's it! That's what I read!

There's been some complaints that the ending doesn't make any sense, that those little snippets of what happened to everyone seem rather arbitrary and random and not much use. But for those who did read the original books, they're a treat. Even the final lines of the film fit in with what was in the books, and that's such a rare occurance that I was surprised to see it happen.

To counteract that, there's a considerable amount that didn't make it to the screen as well, but considering the length of the film, that makes sense. For those of you who love spectacle, this is one that will give you plenty of battles, true friendship and even some character evolution. Alas, Arwen is devolved into little more than a prize for Aragorn's good behavior, and the extensive subplot that revolved around Faramir and Eowyn got cut entirely except for a shared glance at the end of the film.

So, do see this one on the big screen, it's worth your time and money, even at nearly four hours long. If you find your interest piqued, go on and read the trilogy for itself, and discover why there's been endless rip-offs and pallid imitations for years. Tolkien wrote a great deal more than just this and The Hobbit, with a great deal of backstory and mythology to the intertwined tales of Elves and Men.