As Frodo (Eliah Wood) begins the arduous journey into Mordor with a battling Sam and Gollum, Gandalf (Ian McKellan) begins to ready the Gondor capital, Minas Tirith, for battle with Sauron's armies while Théoden (Bernard Hill, "Gothika") gathers Rohan's forces awaiting Gandalf's call. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), accompanied by the ever-faithful Legolas (Orlando Bloom, "The Pirates of the Caribbean") and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), needs to heed his own calling and gather his own army for "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King."
The long awaited capper to Peter Jackson's trilogy is expected to be a knockout, the film the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is waiting to bedeck with Oscars, but while the film is certainly an honorable ending to a series justifiably considered a towering achievement, repetition and an inability to let the film end seriously mar its impact. "Return of the Kings" is blessed with many, many moments of cinematic splendor, but all too often I was wishing Jackson would just get on with it. When all is said and done, Frodo has become an almost annoying character and Aragorn never fully emerges. "The Lord of the Rings's" true heroes are Gandalf and Sam, and McKellan and Astin are the two actors whose lifeblood pumps through this saga.
"Return of the King" begins by going back, revealing the transformation of the Hobbit Smegal (Andy Serkis) into the emaciated Gollum after his murderous acquisition of the ring. Perhaps the trilogy's only ineffective special effect comes within the first three minutes of the third film, an unconvincing shot of a hobbit being pulled along underwater by a fishing line. This is made up for with a poetic look at the ring's retrieval from the pond bottom, the golden band encased in slime. As time passes and the Gollum is formed ('We forgot the taste of bread, the sound of trees') we can see that his giant, watery blue eyes are cousin to Frodo's own.
Back in the present, Pippin (Billy Boyd, "Master and Commander") cannot resist the pull of the Palantir at Isengard, Sauron's crystal ball which Gandalf had hidden away. The gaze into it is a physically horrific experience for the Hobbit, but when Gandalf learns he has seen Minas Tirith under siege, he gallops off with to the grand white city (production designer Grant Major has outdone himself with the spiral mountain clinger, constructed at New Zealand's Dry Creek Quarry). There they find Lord Denethor (John Noble), gone mad over the death of his son Boromir (Sean Bean), about to make a sacrifice of his unappreciated Faramir (David Wenham, "The Bank").
Arwen (Liv Tyler) sees her human future and turns back towards a life of mortality and so her father, elf king Elrond (Hugo Weaving, "The Matrix Revolutions") reforges the Sword of Kings for her lover Aragorn. Aragorn takes his leave from Éowyn (Miranda Otto) to call up a cursed army while she disguises herself and takes Pippin's friend Merry (Dominic Monaghan) into Pelennor Fields with her father to battle the Witch-king of Angmar and Sauron's armies. In the end, of course, it is not the trinity of Gandalf, Aragorn and Théoden who can save the kingdom. What they must do is distract the Eye of Sauron long enough for Frodo to destroy the Ring.
Pairings and repairings mark "The Return of the King," with Pippin and Merry split between two different armies yet partnered with a wizard and future queen, Sam and the Judas Gollum struggling for Frodo's allegiance, and Aragorn's heart moving from human to Elf. Former unlikely alliances are made with Rohan and Gondor and the Elf Legolas standing with the Dwarf Gimli.
Jackson achieves some great moments of humanistic drama, such as when he intercuts Pippin's plaintive singing during Denizor's supper with Faramir leading troops to certain slaughter or when Frodo forsakes Sam over Gollum's stolen bread. There are also scenes of soaring majesty, such as Gandalf blinding flying Fell Beasts with light reflected from his staff, or anytime Gandalf rides Shadowfax for that matter. Once again, John Rhys-Davies is relied on for the film's humor, proclaiming 'That still only counts as one!' after Legolas single handedly takes out one of the elephant-like Mûmakil (visually reminiscent of the Imperial Walkers) during ferocious combat. And yet, the film often goes limp for extended periods. When Frodo is lured into Shelob's Lair, it is "The Return of the King's" misfortune that the giant spider only recalls last year's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and the final stages of his mission are agonizingly drawn out. Jackson may be trying to stay true to his source material, but cinematically, four endings are three two many. If only some of that screen time had been given over to Aragorn's love life, which is too abruptly dealt with.
With "The Lord of the Rings," Jackson can take his place as the literary George Lucas of his time. Yet after his next big outing, "King Kong," one hopes for a return of the Jackson who gave us "Heavenly Creatures" as well.
By : Laura Clifford (http://www.reelingreviews.com/)
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 5
"Large chance of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?" the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies ) asks his fellow fighting companions. Like everyone else, what you've been waiting for is one last chance to fight with your heroes. You'll finally get it in Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, the final film in the wildly successful trilogy, which looks to be a surefire Oscar winner. It's also the best of the three. The first was great. The second was quite good, but disappointing nonetheless. The third, however, is such a stunning achievement by Jackson that it's hard to believe that he could ever be able to surpass it even if he make a hundred more films. (Actually, most viewers are mainly interested in one more from him in particular -- THE HOBBIT, which reportedly he'd like to make. I don't believe that finding the funding will prove to be a problem.)
So epic in scale and length and so operatic in music and sound, the movie calls to mind another famous story about a ring -- Wagner's opera, The Ring of the Nibelungen. The music to THE RETURN OF THE KING is so stunning and memorable that the first thing that you're likely to do when leaving the theater is to purchase its equally incredible CD. The movie is also quite dramatic with Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) giving a speech to the troops that is reminiscent of King Henry's St. Crispin's Day charge to his soldiers in Shakespeare's HENRY V.
"We come to it at last," Gandalf (Ian McKellen) tells Pippin (Billy Boyd), "the great battle of our time." The story this time is basically one long series of battles, of which you will never tire. Trust me on this. My bladder frequently has trouble lasting even for a normal length film, but it made it through all three and a half hours of this one. My son remarked that I barely moved through its showing. If it had been six hours long, I don't think I would have complained or budged.
My favorite times during the fighting occur when the cameras pull way back, and we get aerial views of the action. God, isn't CGI great! The best of the new mythical animals used for warfare are a cross between STAR WARS' Imperial Walkers, Hannibal's elephants and prehistoric beasts.
The picture's ensemble cast is so strong and memorable that you'll wish the Academy would consider giving a special ensemble Oscar to all of the actors. A few characters do stand out, in addition to Aragorn, Gandalf and, obviously, Frodo (Elijah Wood), the lad who has the dubious honor of carrying the ill-fated ring. Again, the movie's scene stealer is a CGI character named Smeagol, whose voice and motion is done by Andy Serkis. I still think that Serkis deserves a supporting actor award.
Let me be honest. I was frequently lost. It's easy to figure out the overall outline of the story and what is happening, but you'd have to frequently consult a detailed program to figure out all of the story's various clans -- just like in an opera. Jackson's genius is that he managed to make this tale of Middle Earth grand and mesmerizing rather than hokey and silly. In lesser hands, the movie could have turned into the bomb of the century rather than the must-see trilogy of the decade.
After one ending after another, which allows needed closure, Jackson finally finds one that fits perfectly. Don't be surprised if you tear-up when the ending credits roll since you'll be bidding adieu to good friends. You been in there fighting their battles with them for three years now, and they're leaving. Goodbye. We'll miss you.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING runs a fast 3:20. It is rated PG-13 for "intense epic battle sequences and frightening images" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 14, went on and on about how much he liked this one, his favorite of the three. Giving it ****, he gave special mention to the fighting sequences, the intricate scenery and the story itself. He couldn't find anything about it that he didn't like.
The film opens worldwide on Wednesday, December 17, 2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
By : Steve Rhodes (http://www.internetreviews.com/)
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