Review: 'King' Brilliant Conclusion To 'Rings' Trilogy
Jackson Brings Best Of 'Fellowship,' 'Towers' Worlds To Film
POSTED: 6:35 a.m. EST December 17, 2003
'The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King' (PG-13)
(out of four)
Let's take care of that burning sense of curiosity right away: if you loved the first two "Lord of the Rings" films based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, then get ready to hail to the "King," baby.
And this hunka hunka burnin' love -- hot from the fires of Mordor -- is writer-director Peter Jackson.
With "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Jackson has not only created a grand spectacle that's an instant classic, he's completed the insurmountable task of not only sustaining, but heightening the tension with each "Lord of the Rings" film chapter. Together with 2001's "The Fellowship of Ring" and 2002's "The Two Towers," "The Return of the King" is the last grand piece of one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever.
"The Return of the King" begins by chronicling the origins of Smeagol (Andy Serkis), and the ugly path he took that transformed him into the twisted creature Gollum. It's a fascinating stretch of filmmaking that leads us back to the central matter at hand, where Gollum continues to guide Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Samwise (Sean Astin) on their increasingly brutal quest to destroy the One Ring of Power in the fires of Mordor.
But there's a problem brewing, as Gollum's underhanded plan to recapture the ring begins to cause serious friction between the duo. To Sam, it's obvious what Gollum's intentions are; but by this time, the burden of the ring is weighing so heavy on Frodo that he's not thinking with a level head.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the battle of Helm's deep at the end that we witnessed at the end of "The Two Towers," Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gandalf the White (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are reunited with Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) at the ruins of the tower of Isengard.
It's there we get one more short glimpse of Treebeard (voiced by Rhys-Davies) and learn -- but not see -- of Saruman's (Christopher Lee) fate (a move that reportedly caused a stir with both the actor Lee and "Rings" fans -- which Jackson promises to flesh out in the extended version of the film).
The reunion between Aragorn and company and the hobbits is happy, but brief. After having an inadvertent vision of the fate of Gondor, Pippin is swept up by Gandalf to ride to the kingdom in peril to head off a siege that makes Helm's Deep look like a walk in the park.
Meanwhile, Aragorn has his hands full: not only is he struggling with his destiny of assuming the throne of Gondor and his love for Arwen (Liv Tyler) and the affections of Eowyn (Miranda Otto), he needs to convince King Theoden (Bernard Hill) and his army of Rohan to join in the fight to save the kingdom.
It's been nearly a week since I screened "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," and I have to admit, I'm still trying to shake loose the emptiness. And as a movie reviewer who hasn't read the books (before you shoot me your e-mails, please realize my job is to judge a story on its cinematic merits, not compare it to the source material), I can't imagine how fans of the book will feel.
But to say I feel empty is not to say "The Return of the King" is void of anything -- in fact, it was overflowing with emotional character depth we first witnessed in "Fellowship" and the sweeping vistas and exhilarating action and adventure we got to experience in "The Two Towers." Essentially, "The Return of the King" has the best of both those worlds, and despite its three hours and 20 minute run-time, you won't want it to end.
It's amazing enough how Jackson and his army of filmmakers have fleshed out this world of hobbits, humans, wizards, elves, dwarves, orcs and other creatures in the first place.
But then, he's personally involved us in their plights, and he's done so without ever losing sight of who the characters are despite the amazing special effects that helps make up the world around them. What a brilliant achievement. The sum of what he's done is what movies are all about.
If "The Return of the King" has any shortfalls -- and in the grand scheme of things this is a very minor one, especially to Tolkien fans -- it's the ending. Make that endings -- because the film feels like it is doing that about a half-dozen times. But it all makes sense at the end of the endings, so be patient.
That's because in "The Return of the King," you'll discover each character has a purpose. After giving us an epic 11 hours of film, Jackson would have been doing the story and his fans a disservice if he had chosen instead to lump the conclusions together somehow.
Now bring on "The Hobbit," will ya, Peter?
(out of four)
Let's take care of that burning sense of curiosity right away: if you loved the first two "Lord of the Rings" films based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, then get ready to hail to the "King," baby.
And this hunka hunka burnin' love -- hot from the fires of Mordor -- is writer-director Peter Jackson.
With "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Jackson has not only created a grand spectacle that's an instant classic, he's completed the insurmountable task of not only sustaining, but heightening the tension with each "Lord of the Rings" film chapter. Together with 2001's "The Fellowship of Ring" and 2002's "The Two Towers," "The Return of the King" is the last grand piece of one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever.
"The Return of the King" begins by chronicling the origins of Smeagol (Andy Serkis), and the ugly path he took that transformed him into the twisted creature Gollum. It's a fascinating stretch of filmmaking that leads us back to the central matter at hand, where Gollum continues to guide Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Samwise (Sean Astin) on their increasingly brutal quest to destroy the One Ring of Power in the fires of Mordor.
But there's a problem brewing, as Gollum's underhanded plan to recapture the ring begins to cause serious friction between the duo. To Sam, it's obvious what Gollum's intentions are; but by this time, the burden of the ring is weighing so heavy on Frodo that he's not thinking with a level head.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the battle of Helm's deep at the end that we witnessed at the end of "The Two Towers," Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gandalf the White (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are reunited with Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) at the ruins of the tower of Isengard.
It's there we get one more short glimpse of Treebeard (voiced by Rhys-Davies) and learn -- but not see -- of Saruman's (Christopher Lee) fate (a move that reportedly caused a stir with both the actor Lee and "Rings" fans -- which Jackson promises to flesh out in the extended version of the film).
The reunion between Aragorn and company and the hobbits is happy, but brief. After having an inadvertent vision of the fate of Gondor, Pippin is swept up by Gandalf to ride to the kingdom in peril to head off a siege that makes Helm's Deep look like a walk in the park.
Meanwhile, Aragorn has his hands full: not only is he struggling with his destiny of assuming the throne of Gondor and his love for Arwen (Liv Tyler) and the affections of Eowyn (Miranda Otto), he needs to convince King Theoden (Bernard Hill) and his army of Rohan to join in the fight to save the kingdom.
It's been nearly a week since I screened "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," and I have to admit, I'm still trying to shake loose the emptiness. And as a movie reviewer who hasn't read the books (before you shoot me your e-mails, please realize my job is to judge a story on its cinematic merits, not compare it to the source material), I can't imagine how fans of the book will feel.
But to say I feel empty is not to say "The Return of the King" is void of anything -- in fact, it was overflowing with emotional character depth we first witnessed in "Fellowship" and the sweeping vistas and exhilarating action and adventure we got to experience in "The Two Towers." Essentially, "The Return of the King" has the best of both those worlds, and despite its three hours and 20 minute run-time, you won't want it to end.
It's amazing enough how Jackson and his army of filmmakers have fleshed out this world of hobbits, humans, wizards, elves, dwarves, orcs and other creatures in the first place.
But then, he's personally involved us in their plights, and he's done so without ever losing sight of who the characters are despite the amazing special effects that helps make up the world around them. What a brilliant achievement. The sum of what he's done is what movies are all about.
If "The Return of the King" has any shortfalls -- and in the grand scheme of things this is a very minor one, especially to Tolkien fans -- it's the ending. Make that endings -- because the film feels like it is doing that about a half-dozen times. But it all makes sense at the end of the endings, so be patient.
That's because in "The Return of the King," you'll discover each character has a purpose. After giving us an epic 11 hours of film, Jackson would have been doing the story and his fans a disservice if he had chosen instead to lump the conclusions together somehow.
Now bring on "The Hobbit," will ya, Peter?Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
