Sadly it all had to come to an end, three movies in little over two years, years of planning beforehand, countless reshoots and a cast and crew who came to live the spirit of the movie as strongly as the most ardent of Rings fans. Scarcely anyone could have escaped the hype and promotion of the trilogy, and fewer still could doubt the veracity of the claims made therein. This has truly been a magical cinematic experience, our generations Star Wars, a movie to tell the kids 'I was there, I witnessed it first hand'. That those kids will no doubt demand in 15-20 years a return to the cinema of these three masterpieces is beyond doubt, frankly it should be re-released every few years in order to constantly remind people just what was achieved here. No tribute could do it justice, but we all have to try eh.
After the mild disappointment of The Two Towers cinematic release (but not the 4-disc DVD special, that solved a lot of the grumbles I had) there was going to be no doubt that Jackson would return to splendour with the final installment, wrapping up the loose ends and sending the whole kit-and-kaboodle out with a bang. Frodo, Sam and Gollum are working their way up through the bowels of Mordor; Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas have resuscitated the flagging people of Rohan and are attempting to lead them to the rescue of Gondor, whilst Gandalf and Pippin ride to see Denethor in the White City, and prepare for the coming battle against the overwhelming might of Sauron.
A few grumbles to be cast about now: no, Saruman isn't in it, and that's a shame. All we see of his end to the proceedings is Orthanc and the Ents milling about. This will be rectified in the extended edition though, so I'll let it pass. Er, there were.... erm.... Denethor runs an awfully long way whilst on fire... and that's about it for the problems to The Return of the King. It's that good.
Unsurprisingly for a trilogy of movies which were essentially shot over one long period, the character portrayals by all the actors (and there had accumulated an awful lot by now as you can see above) are marvellous, from the weakening Frodo to the still stout Sam, from Aragorn, who has finally begun to accept his place as a leader and king of men, to Eowyn who knows she will never have his heart. The finest acting scenes however take place between Faramir and his father Denethor, the steward of Gondor. Denethor makes it plain just who his favourite son was, and his contempt and disregard for Faramir burns with a terrible flame. Gimli is thankfully given a role of some seriousness again after his stooge-like performance in The Two Towers (you were spot on Amy), but Pippin, Merry and Legolas flicker about a little too much, with Pippin's marvellous recovery from the horrible power of Sauron and the Palantir a little too sudden.
But these are tiny complaints about a film which caps what could well be the finest cinematic trilogy of all time, a series which rewrote the rulebook on dedication to ones craft and the brilliance that can result. Jackson, Boyens and Walsh all deserve the utmost credit for turning Tolkiens slightly jumbled genius into a workable 9 hours of footage, and every single member of the cast and crew should be honoured from now until the end of time for their work. A bag full of Oscars await methinks. |
