Review of:Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Director:Peter Jackson
Rating:PG-13 for epic battle sequences and scary images
Starring:Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee
One of the themes that I found this film hinges on is the loss of innocence. In these days of war, famine, and terrorism it seems like this film was brought to the public eye at an appropriate time. I believe that Tolkien wrote this book at a time when the world was at war for the second time and the worst aspects of mankind were being displayed in the blatant killing of millions of people. This film serves as his testament of the good in mankind, and that mankind, even through fear of death needs to do the right thing.
Therein lied the quest for Peter Jackson. To endow his film with the same poignant purpose that had been set out on so many years ago. To his credit he has tackled the task head on and achieved what many thought impossible. Movies that are the visual representation of what the books are. Peter Jackson has given us two of the better films in the last ten years. Namely the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. These films have cemented Peter Jackson as one of the better directors of our time, and with the film Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, he delivers on a trilogy that could have broken a lesser men.
A short recap might be in order if you haven't seen one of the preceding films. The hobbit Frodo is the Ringbearer and is put on a quest to destroy The One Ring at Mount Doom. The ring belongs to Sauron and is endowed with his black power. Constantly tested the will of any who would grasp for it‚ it is a symbol of all that is evil in this world. That bit of lust that shouldn’t be reached for‚ but sometimes is. If Sauron rejoins with it the world will be recast into a darkness that it would be hard pressed to escape from. On this quest the hobbit Frodo is joined by various allies who wish to see the end of Sauron also‚ and within this fellowship resides the fate of mankind.
The film takes off almost at the exact same spot where The Two Towers deposited the viewer. A pleasant surprise in the film was the inclusion of more background information on the character of Gollum who is a computer-generated character (and possibly the best character in the film). In this final film you can expect more battles and more intense action.
One aspect of the Lord of the Rings film is that the stories don't just focus on one character. In the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers‚ the film might not have intended it‚ but the story behind Gollum was a focal point that in my discussions about the film stood out above the rest. It was one of the reasons I believe The Two Towers was a better film. The telling of so many stories is always a difficult job‚ one in which Peter Jackson has excelled with this series‚ but it doesn’t match the outstanding job of the second film. In Return of The King, there isn't that one character who stands out or who takes over the screen in the same manner.
One of the problems I did find with the film is some footage that had very little explanation behind it. If you have seen some of the other films in the series there is a chance you would understand what was going on‚ but if not the chances that you would be left in the dark are great. With the film coming in at an outstanding three hours and thirty minutes‚ I suspect some of it still was left on the cutting room floor. Even with that minor qualm the film still enthralls you its entire length.
