The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, PG-13)

Okay, so I initially planned to watch maybe one Lord of the Rings film a week, knowing what a time investment they are, and even then, I figured I’d probably space out my reviews a little more than that.  Nope – all three movies (and reviews) in the space of a week.  Ah, LOTR.  It’s been good to see you again, old friend.

Even though it’s still quite a good movie, The Return of the King is easily my least favorite of trilogy.  I supposed its Best Picture win (and general Oscar clean sweep) was a reward for the cumulative accomplishments of all three films, combined with a year without a lot of other strong Best Picture contenders.  Still, considering the Academy’s usual snobbery toward genre films, it was a massive achievement, and even with its faults, I was still glad to see it take home all those trophies in the end, and now to rewatch it as well.

The war for Middle-Earth comes to a head in the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings saga.  The corrupting influence of the Ring threatens to tear Frodo and Sam apart as they finally reach Mordor.  Gandalf tries to assist the human kingdom of Gondor as it’s set upon by Sauron’s forces, and Aragorn works to unite the kingdoms of men to fight together, all the while wondering if he can truly step forward and be the king they need.

I’ll start with my issues first.  Mainly, the film falls into two traps for me:  the plot hopping from battle to battle and an overreliance on CGI.  While the earlier two films have several very specific battle sequences at key points (even if those sequences are quite long, as in the Battle of Helms Deep,) The Return of the King feels a lot more sprawling in its fighting.  I suppose it’s understandable, since this is the big culmination of the war, but at a point, it all starts to run together and isn’t as effective as a whole.  And on the second point, each consecutive film gradually moves more toward digital effects and away from the practical, and The Return of the King isn’t entirely well-served for it.  Watching the Rohirim ride through waves of CGI Orcs looks really fake, as does the initial assault on Minas Tirith (I do continue to enjoy Legolas taking down an Oliphant, though.)  Additionally, the multiple endings thing is a definite problem.  If each sequence there could’ve been just a little shorter and a bit less significant and final-seeming, it would’ve worked a lot better.  And the long fades to black when it’s not the end of the movie yet!  That’s the part of it that throws me the most, honestly – just cutting those out would improve it quite a bit.

But ultimately, I do still love the movie.  There are so many wonderful moments.  Eowyn and the Witch King of Angmar is a standout for me, since I always loved that storyline in the old cartoon when I was growing up.  It’s great to see both Merry and Pippin come into their own – I adore them together, but it’s separately that they’re each able to really shine.  (Side note:  Pippin singing “The Edge of Night” is so beautiful.)  I still remember how freaky it was to watch the scene in Shelob’s lair for the first time in the theater, and I love every minute of Sam being the sweetest, loveliest tiny badass around.  And since there’s only one really noteworthy new cast member in this film, I’ll mention him in this paragraph as well – John Noble is really effective as Denethor.

Watching these films when they first came out will always be special to me.  They were something large and wonderful to be a part of, and even though I can now see their rougher edges a bit better, I still appreciate them and all the love that went into them.  They’re a cinematic journey, and it’s been beautiful to walk that road again.

Warnings

Fantasy violence, scary moments, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.