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.
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