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MOVIE REVIEW
The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King
(2003)
Starring:
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd,
Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Bernard
Hill, Hugo Weaving
Directors: Peter Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Studio: New
Line Cinema
Release Date: 12.17.03
Review
Posted: 12.16.03
Spoilers:
Major
By
Sara M. Fetters
All Hail the "King" - Classic
Trilogy Comes to Rousing Climax
And so it comes
to the end.
After three
years, nearly ten hours, hundreds of millions of dollars and the
fate of an entire studio resting on its fate, Peter Jackson
finally brings his epic retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork
The Lord of the Rings to a conclusion. And if,
ultimately, “The Return of the King” isn’t quite the thrilling
conclusion we were all quite hoping for, it is still very much a
rousingly successful end to what may be the most accomplished
and satisfying movie trilogy of all time.
Much like “The
Two Towers,” part three of the trilogy picks up right where the
previous entry concluded. In this case, heroes Aragorn (Viggo
Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies)
and Gandalf (Ian McKellan) rest and discuss strategy with Rohan
King Theoden (Bernard Hill) after their stunning victory at
Helm’s Deep. Reunited with Hobbits Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry
(Dominic Monaghan) – whom are justly celebrating the Ents
smashing victory over the wizard Sauraman at Isengard – the
compatriots are at their wits end trying to decide their next
move, especially if the eye of Sauron turns towards the lands of
Gondor or – even worse – discovers the whereabouts of Sam (Sean
Astin), Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the One Ring.
Unbeknownst to
them all, Frodo and Sam are making their way into Mordor under
the guide of the maliciously malignant Golum (Andy Serkis). Once
again, due to the mistreatment at the hands of the humans and a
perceived betrayal by Frodo, the creature’s psyche has split in
two. Leading them up the black steps and into Mordor by an
ancient and secret tunnel, the creature hopes to let the
cavern’s guardian have her way with the two tired Hobbits. Once
she’s fed on their flesh, than Golum can find the Ring – the
Precious – amongst their bloody bones; reclaiming once again
what he’s killed for time and time again protecting, driven
blindly mad in the process.
That madness is
also starting to affect Frodo. Each step, each aching inch
towards Mount
Doom and the sea of fire that resides within, becomes more
and more painful for him as they go along. Sam does his best to
help his friend, trying ever so hard to lift his spirits to
hopefully brighter days ahead, but with Golum poisoning the
former against him, the Halfling’s efforts are only minutely
successful. Sam presses on all the same, trying to never lose
faith in both his friend and his own ability to help Frodo see
things through.
The humans, in
many ways, are in even worse shape. Sauron’s eye has indeed
turned towards the devastation of Gondor. Gandalf knows this,
Pippin foolishly seeing the Dark Lord’s plan – and also making
the evil one believe it is he, not Frodo, who has the ring –
while looking into Sauraman’s discarded Palantir. Now the duo
race to the land’s capital to warn Denethor (John Noble),
Gondor’s steward and father to fallen fellowship companion
Boromir and his brother Faramir (David Wenham), of the impending
attacks. As they do this, Theoden readies his Rohirrim to ride
to Gondor’s aide, while Aragorn takes up the sword of his father
– recently re-forged under the direction of Elf leader Elrond
(Hugo Weaving) – and prepares himself to become the king of men
fate has destined him to be.
At this point,
throwing much more of the plot out there is rather a moot point.
Anyone who has seen the first two films knows where act three is
going by now; Frodo must take the Ring deep into the Crack of
Doom, Aragorn must put aside his doubt and claim the thrown,
while men and orcs must engage in the most massively fought
battle in the history of cinema. This is sheer spectacle on a
Shakespearean scale, an epic battle between ultimate good and
absolute evil where only one side can come out victorious.
On each of
those scales, “Return of the King” does not disappoint. For
those that believed nothing could top the massive battle that
was the centerpiece of “The Two Towers,” be prepared for the
blood-splattered heroics to be found on Gondor’s Pelennor
Fields. Monstrous catapults hurtle gigantic slabs of rock and
wall back and forth at one another, while legion upon legion of
screaming Orc and Uruk-hai march in wave after wave upon the
outnumbered and seemingly browbeaten human forces. Browbeaten,
that is, until Theoden and his Rohirrim arrive, launching the
most massive Calvary charge this side of the Light Brigade.
Bobbing and weaving through the forces of Mordor, this battle is
a Tolkein fanatic’s wet dream. Gigantic Oliphaunts – huge
elephant-like pachyderms that carry themselves like carnivorous
Wooly Mammoths – stomp across the plains, Rohan’s riders darting
underneath their feet like buzzing fighter jets.
Truly, there
are sights to see here, but they are nothing to the human
dimensions that once again take center stage in Jackson’s epic.
Of all of these, a certain few passionately stand out. Most
notably, Aragorn’s forceful confrontation with a ghostly soldier
who’s past has condemned him and his army to a life of undead
sorrow and Sam’s austere resolve when faced with Frodo’s failing
strength at the base of Mount Doom come immediately to mind.
Even better is Eowyn (Miranda Otto) and Merry’s brutal
confrontation with the horrifically scary Nazgűl leader the
Witch King. No man can kill him, a fact he’s more than happy to
point out, and the look of stark terror mixed with a stubborn
determination on the face of Otto is more than enough to rouse
even the most jaded of viewers.
It is a toss
up, though, between this moment and one other that led to the
biggest cheer out of the jam-packed preview (which just happened
to be mostly made up of other press people like myself)
audience. That other is the much-talked about battle between
Frodo, Sam and the enormous she-spider Shelob. Quite frankly,
this is the single greatest man (Hobbit, in this case) versus
spider confrontation ever put to film. Never have I seen CGI
technology mix so well with the human elements. So seamless is
the work, so extraordinary, I completely forgot I was watching a
computer-generated monster clash with an actor. I was absolutely
absorbed in the moment, each slash, crash and stab sending a
tense shiver down my spine.
Yet, while I am
undeniably falling all over myself to justly praise this movie,
I can’t say with complete honesty I was quite as enraptured with
this one as I was the first two times around. Part of that has
to do with the whole “been there/done that” factor inherent in
sequels. At this point, there isn’t really very much further our
cast can take their characters. As good as Mortensen, McKellan,
Bloom, et al are, I can’t exactly say their performances left me
feeling anything different than I already felt. There just isn’t
anywhere else for them to go, most – if not all – their
character traits pretty much fleshed out to their fullest in the
previous features.
There are
exceptions, of course. Both Hill and Wenham do some fine work,
bring much in the way of human angst, honor and righteous
indignation to their characters that’s most fitting. Even better
are Boyd and Monaghan. For what is really the first time in the
trilogy, they are allowed to turn Merry and Pippin into much
more than just R2D2/C3PO comic relief. Monaghan, in particular,
boasts some of the sequels finest moments, his handling of
Denethor’s attempt to burn himself and a gravely wounded Faramir
to death poignantly affecting.
But, of them
all, it is Otto, Astin and Wood that stand the tallest. For
Otto, the beauteous actress really knocks Eowyn out of the park.
She is the only female character allowed to make a lasting
impression, Jackson (along with fellow scribes Frances Walsh and
Philippa Boyens) rightfully fleshing her out in forcefully
feminine directions. This allows the actress to make one of the
most strikingly fearsome female warriors, yet one that never
loses her inherent grace and femininity, to ever grace the
screen. It is the character everyone was talking about when the
movie was over, and her splendid performance is the major reason
why.
Then there are
the final two Hobbits, Astin and Wood. Jackson has slowly let
them build their characters, allowing them to journey into
darkness along with Frodo and Sam. Wood, thin and gangly,
looking almost like a slithery larvae trying to burrow its way
deep into the wet earth, is almost heartbreaking to watch. Yet,
his final moments looking down into the Crack of Doom, are
almost scary, the artist excellent at conveying the pure,
cajoling power of evil to consume a person’s soul. Astin is the
flip side to all of this; Sam getting stronger and more filled
with a sense of purpose the direr the road becomes. It is
friendship at its finest; the portly Halfling ready to do
whatever it takes to see his friend finish the quest. If anyone
in the movie deserves to have the words “Oscar” and “Nomination”
associated with their performance it is he, and I am very
curious to see if it comes to pass.
Really, the
only full-out complaint I can make this time around is, much
like Tolkien’s novel, Jackson and company just don’t know when
to bring things to an end. I counted at least five instances
when I thought the movies was going to come to a close, the
director fading out only to slowly fade back in on yet another
denouement. While I know there are a plethora of loose ends at
the end of the final battle needing to be resolved, I couldn’t
help but thing there had to be a better way to bring things
together. For a movie that goes about 260 minutes, it’s almost
pointless to keep the audience captive longer than is absolutely
necessary. And while all the fanatics are going to be happy
seeing many of Tolkien’s closings make it into the picture, I
can’t imagine the majority of everyone else being as enthused.
Still, it isn’t
like everyone and the grandmother is not going to see this
movie. In what is maybe the riskiest chance a studio ever took
on a project – New Line Studios bet their entire existence on
Jackson succeeding – the filmmaker has delivered a remarkable
motion picture trilogy that transcends genre unlike any film
since “The Godfather.” It is impossible to imagine a studio ever
taking a risk such as this ever again, that someday Jackson and
the “Lord of the Rings” will be mentioned in the same breath as
“The Wizard of Oz,” “The Seven Samurai” or “Gone With the Wind.”
Not bad for a guy making low budget New Zealand splatter films.
Not bad at all.
Rating:
ęęę1/2 (out of 4)
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