Cheese-18

It is true that this movie delivers. However - I liked part one and two better. But mind you, 'Return of the King' is still better than any not-Lord-of-the-Rings-movie I've ever seen.

First there is the problem of the sadness. When you're watching this movie, there's this little voice in your head going 'this is the last one. Next Christmas there won't be a part four you can look forward to. This will be it. That's it.' But I'm sure if I watch RotK a few dozen times more, this little voice in my head will fade away. And then there's always the rumors about 'The Hobbit'.

But secondly, and that's more important: most of the characters come to a standstill. There's not much evolving there. Only Aragorn has to grow to become a leader of men, and good ol' trustworthy Sam will rise to become the real hero of the War of the Ring. But most of the other characters in RotK just have to buy time for Frodo and Sam, so they will have a chance to complete their mission. But then again: so it was written, and so it was done.

Furthermore I thought I was always aware of some missing scenes here and there. So I can't wait to lay my fingers on the Special Edition-DVD. Only then will I be able to appreciate the full glory of RotK. After my experience with 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and 'The Two Towers' I know that the Special Editions are far superior to the cinematic versions (which seems almost impossible anyway, doesn't it).

But don't listen to my babbling - go see the movie! It is good fun to watch and will blow you away. I'm an arachnophobe, naturally Shelob scared me out of my socks! There are some wonderful Gollum-scenes (thanks, Andy), the ending in Mount Doom is breathtaking, the battles are boombastic, the art department and especially the conceptual artists have outdone themselves, and everything is created and executed with so much love and care for detail.

Peter Jackson has rightfully earned his seat in the eternal Olymp of the greatest film directors of all time. Thanks, Peter!

Let me put it this way: a movie that kills off Steven Seagal in the first 20 minutes can't be THAT bad. For this Executive Decision will always have a special place in my heart.

And then of course there is Kurt Russell to lift the whole thing up. All in all Executive Decision is fun to watch - if you switch off your brain for two hours...

Chris Columbus said he wanted to make a 2,5 hour movie that feels like 30 Minutes. Well, in my case he surely succeeded! I saw the movie as a member of the press and couldn't get enough of it. I would have gladly sat in the cinema for another two or three hours with a biiiig smile on my face.

Like part one, "chamber of secrets" stays true to the book. I don't know about you - but I HATE it when movie makers change the storylines, add or remove characters and do it for the "sake of the art". I think they do it because they are too lazy to create their own storys, so they rip off other peoples ideas and crush them to make it more comfortable... If a book is loved by millions of readers there must be a good reason for that. Chris Columbus has captured the essence of the book on screen. So, after "philosophers stone" he delivered again!

When reading the book I always envisioned Michael Crawford playing Gilderoy Lockhart. His broad smile and clumsiness à la Frank Spencer would have been perfect for the role. But instead we get to see Kenneth Branagh, so of course you won't see ME complain. The great find of the movie is Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy. In his short scenes onscreen he makes your blood freeze. And again: all the casting is brilliant. Every character just feels right - even if you imagined something different when you read the book. There also has been talk about the young actors getting older. Well, let me remind you that this also happens in the books. In every book Harry Potter and his friends are one year older. So there's no excuse to take the roles away from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. I couldn't imagine someone else playing their parts.

Go see "the chamber of secrets". It's pure fun and excitement! And it will wet your appetite for more to come. Richard Harris couldn't have asked for a better movie and legacy to be remembered by.