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The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King
12/17/03 - PG-13 - 201m
Sean
Astin - Sam
Elijah Wood - Frodo
Sir Ian McKellen - Gandalf
Director: Peter Jackson
Written by: J.R.R. Tolkien (Novels)
Frances Walsh (screenplay)
Studio: New Line Cinema
Official
Website
JEF
It is difficult to review this film without talking about spoilers.
Some say that you shouldn’t worry about spoilers for a classic like
The Lord of the Rings, since the book(s) have been out for about 50 years
now, but for those who have not read the books (you really should –
especially if you are into the third film of this trilogy), but also for
people like myself who read the series recently, and yet I had forgotten
much of the story so the film was full of surprise and suspense even for
me.
Storyline: The final chapter of the trilogy brings about
several endings… We have the ending of what happens to Sam and Frodo
on their perilous quest to try and destroy the ring in the fiery depths
of Mordor. We are also shown the ending of perhaps the deciding battle
between the evil orc forces of Sauron, and the forces of Men.
Confession, although I am a big fan of the books and the films, I have
to admit I’m really bad with the names. Not to mention trying to
figure out the spelling of these fictional characters and places. Mr.
Tolkien may roll in his resting place as I write this, as I know he spent
much time and put huge amounts of effort and thinking in names. My apologies
to the fans, and to Mr. Tolkien. If it has any sort of redeeming value,
I now plan on re-reading the series again, so I can appreciate the books
all that more, now that I have some terrific visuals thanks to Mr. Jackson’s
vision.
No spoiler review…
If you have seen the 1st and 2nd films, you MUST see the third and final
film. I don’t think you will be disappointed in the least. I must
warn you though… it is a LONG film. I think from the time the film
started, I clocked it on my watch at 3 hours and 17 minutes (Not including
the credits). As much as I wanted to stay for the final credits, and drink
in every last frame of film, I was very tired, and suffering from “movie
flat butt” from sitting for so long. On one hand I would have probably
sat through another hour of this film (with an intermission maybe), but
this film may have been too long. I think only the diehard fans will be
forgiving of Jackson to sit for so long, but for the average moviegoers,
they may be tired and angry for having sat for so long.
Spoiler Review…
As I mentioned above, I had forgotten much of the details of the story
from when I read the book. I was on the edge of my seat as Frodo was about
to throw the ring into the lava. And then when the ending of the ring
happened, I of course remembered the book. I also remembered being a little
let down by Tolkien's depiction of the final moments of the destruction
of the ring. To have Frodo and Sam struggle through so much and overcome
such impossible obstacles to destroy the ring, I was a little upset that
it came down to a slip of a foot from Sméagol. After all that,
to sort of “accidentally” fall in seemed a bit anti-climatic.
But, I’m sure Tolkien had his reasons.
The effects were terrific overall, but I felt this final film maybe had
the biggest shortcomings in the area of effects. There were times when
Gollum looked “different” from one scene to another. I don’t
know if I can specifically say why, but it just seemed as though maybe
a corner was cut in the render time of Gollum. I was also a little disappointed
with the effect of the “dead army”. Although the effects were
well done the first time we meet them, it was the glowing green mist,
when they enter the final battle that again seemed to an easy way out.
All of the shots were from a long distance, and I didn’t like how
the green “mist” seemed to float and grow up the walls of
the castle. A minor point I admit, but again, I felt like this may have
been a cut corner.
Again, I know this was a long film, and as much as I didn’t want
the experience to end, I did not really like the way Jackson treated the
final ending moments of the film. To think, “ok, this is the end
of the movie…” only to see another fade to black, then the
next scene starts. It reminded me of a rock concert, when the performer
leaves the stage, and only after a moment of clapping and cheering from
the fans, returns for yet another “final” song… but
to keep coming back for another and another “final” song was
almost comical, or frustrating… Just end it all ready it’s
been 3 hours and 17 minutes for you to end it. All that being said, I
did like the endings. It was more on how Jackson strung the endings together
that bothered me.
So, in a three+ hour movie, and I can only come up with a few points that
bothered me, which is saying a lot. Again, Jackson created a masterpiece,
that I’m sure will live on in the history of film. He broke new
ground in several ways, and his love of the books, and his respect of
Tolkien’s work was apparent, and appreciated. If anything comes
from this amazing trilogy of films, I hope that it will loosen the purse
strings of the big studios, and that in the future we may see more high
quality “fantasy” films, that in the past many fans were almost
embarrassed to admit that they enjoyed a fantasy movie. I know it may
never happen, but if Jackson decides to remake the Hobbit, I will definitely
fork over my money to see it, but I fear that the magic of this trilogy
will be something that cannot, and maybe should not be attempted to recreate
in a “prequel”. Mr. Jackson… If you are reading this,
forget the remake of King Kong… I have 4 words… “The
Sword of Truth” by Terry Goodkind.
Jef
The Lord of the Rings
- The Return of the King - Gollum
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