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| Lord
of the Ring: The Return of the King Directed By: Peter
Jackson Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| With
the final battle joined and the legions of darkness gathering,
Gandalf (Ian McKellen) urgently tries to rally Gondor's broken
army to action. He is aided by Rohan's King Theoden (Bernard
Hill), who unites his warriors for history's biggest test. Trilogies are a tricky business. They require the extension of an idea beyond its anticipated ending point, and few movie trilogies have succeeded in remaining fresh and alive through a third installment. “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is not one of those that grows stale. Here, in scenes of quiet emotion, devastating violence, sweeping chaos and tranquil hope, is a profound conclusion to an important and unforgettable trilogy – probably the best American trilogy ever made. As in “The Two Towers,” “The Return of the King” story is divided into three concurrent threads. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin), the two peaceful hobbits, continue their dramatic journey to destroy the Ring of Power once and for all. Their trek ultimately leads to Mount Doom – the only place the Ring can be destroyed. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the King foreshadowed in the film’s title, leads the wise elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and the gruff dwarf Gimli (John-Rhys Davies) to assemble a legion of ghosts who rise up and fight against evil in honor of an ancient pact. And finally, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the other young hobbits of the story find themselves at Minas Tirith, the city where the first shots of the final battle are fired. “Return of the King” is nearly 3 and a half hours long, and for almost any other movie ever made, this would be a criticism. Yet while constantly aware that the proceedings were running long, and that the story had been long in its resolution, I never once tired of this ride. There is so much at work here – so much about the characters, the battles, the details and the message that I find mesmerizing – that I never wanted it to end. Let’s start with how the final chapter differs from what existed previously. The most obvious shift in tone is its optimism. “The Two Towers,” naturally, was the bleak chapter of the trilogy and witnessed events at their bleakest. In “Return of the King,” there is a greater sense of hope and renewal – although director Peter Jackson is careful to dispense such themes in limited quantities. There are still moments when the battles seem hopeless and when the devastating scars of Frodo’s quest seem hardly worth his eventual triumph. There is also a more palpable focus on character development this time around. Much has been reported concerning reshoots and the studio’s focus on characters to win awards. And while the motivations behind these richer scenes may have been shallow, the added drama is electric. Perhaps it is because at this point in the story, as characters meet their fates and as this global conflict comes to a head, we naturally crave more from the characters. Rather than simply seeing the massive battle lines and the intense war, we want to know more about who these people are and what is going through their minds. Almost every aspect of “Return of the King” is an improvement over the previous two films. The fights are larger and more creative, upping the ante of the climactic battle in “The Two Towers,” and constructed so that they are even more accessible and logical. The acting is given more time to play out, and we feel more connected as a result. And the moral of the story, surrounding the good and evil of the world, the temptations of those charged with saving Middle Earth and the bond of friendship, reaches a pitch in this episode that is nothing short of magical. Unlike the “Matrix” trilogy, which lasted long on its original ideas but came up short in terms of development and longevity, “The Lord of the Rings” has proven that its vision, scope, originality and passion is the real deal. It has the sweeping moments, such as when lit torches across the land call together all the different factions for a final battle, that are awe-inspiring, and the quiet moments, such as Gandalf’s quiet foretelling of the afterlife, that puts lumps in our throats. And let us never forget that these are, above all things, adventure movies. They strive to create scenarios that are involving and exciting, with an undercurrent of meaning to accompany the thrills. The fact that throughout this trilogy we have continued to reflect upon these characters, their quest, the story’s morals and the series’ imagination only proves how much it transcends the hype, the genre and the lowered standards that have sadly become the status quo.  Check out Reviews, Commentary, and More at Zertinet.com |
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