Return of the King: “Let us make such an end as will be worth remembering!”

(Pre-ramble: I’m afraid I won’t be exorcising any broad spoilers from this review for the sake of people who have had shopping bags over their heads this past week. I’ll try to group any important story and character spoilers together in one spot for those who haven’t seen the movie yet, but if you want to be totally unspoiled, I think it’s best if you turn off your computer and go to the theaters NOW before somebody sends you an IM like “Gandalf dies…AGAIN!!”)

Without a doubt, this is THE one movie of 2003 that the world has been waiting for, the highlight of the year for many more than just geeky fans like me. And somehow, now that it’s finally arrived, I feel a little bit like a kid on Christmas morning after all the presents have been frantically unwrapped: happily surveying the damage, but a bit bewildered and, if not quite disappointed, at least with an awareness that the anticipation is over. Fortunately, Return of the King leaves its audience with much to savor and enjoy for long, long after its unveiling, even among all the clutter of small imperfections.

This is the kind of movie that, if you haven’t already seen the first two films, you probably have no business to going to, although it would do your hermit-like heart good to see! There is no plot recap at the beginning – we are expected to know going into it that Frodo and Sam are making their way into Mordor, led by the more-than-suspicious creature Gollum; that the battle of Helm’s Deep is over, while the battle for Middle Earth has just begun; and that the forces of good and evil, led respectively by main figures such as Aragorn and Gandalf on one side, and Sauron and the Nazgul on the other, are massing for a final showdown. Increasingly the fate of Middle Earth pivots around the destruction of the One Ring, on which depends the lives of all the free peoples of Middle Earth. And time is running out for Frodo, who becomes more and more a shadow with each step towards Mount Doom.

I came into this movie with as few expectations as possible…not because I didn’t think Peter Jackson could pull it off, but because I wanted to enjoy it as simply and purely as possible, not from the viewpoint of a disgruntled critic or diehard who wanted it done a certain way; just from the approach of a Lord of the Rings lover. And this line of attack did not fail me. Return of the King, to put it modestly, redefined the cinematic experience. And totally blew me away. It’s a film that, on the first viewing, is so big you can’t really grasp the whole thing, kind of like watching it on the very first row of the theater and trying to take in the whole thing from 3 feet away. Jackson has managed to bring all of the

No matter what aspect of Return of the King you consider, you are sure to find dazzling wizardry at work. But it’s not just the brilliance of the cinematography, the gorgeous special effects and backdrops, the dead-on authenticity of the world of Middle Earth, or the loving treatment of the characters – it’s the meld of all these into its completed state that left me trying to capture the experience into words, and failing when the individual components didn’t stick out at me; the finished whole is so monumental, it’s hard to think of it in usual movie terms. Thus to say it’s a movie that staggered me with its beauty, scope, and power would be an accurate but paltry description.

Not that Return of the King is perfect, or even near perfect. Though it completely stunned me, this movie also left me not quite knowing what to think of it. Its main drawback is simply a matter of time – there was so much story to be squeezed into three and a half hours, timing was bound to be an issue. Hence, the pace often seems rushed, and vital scenes sometimes aren’t given time to fully mature. On a similar note, transitions between story lines too often pushed aside in the crunch for time; the beautifully symmetrical cuts to different episodes were one of the highlights of The Two Towers for me, and I missed that a lot here.

One could quibble over certain cinematic choices that Peter Jackson made, such as giving so much time and precedence to Gollum/Smeagol’s backstory in the opening; I can recognize the pastoral, Shire-like parallel of this beginning, but perhaps a more exciting commencement (for instance, a la internet rumors, the reforging of Aragorn’s sword Anduril by a mysterious figure) would have been more universally (and personally!) pleasing. And certain points in the story definitely got shortchanged, leaving viewers, diehards and novitiates alike, with a slight feeling of puzzlement or lacking. But here’s where faith in PJ comes in – the Extended Edition DVD is sure to flesh out many of these details, while the tushies of the average theater-goer are most likely thanking him for keeping this version under four hours.

Sure, many fans are going to have small disappointments. What’s wonderful, though, about Return of the King is that the moments that matter most are reveled in with a glorious abandon. I can’t recall an instant in film more full of magic and rightness than Frodo’s reunion with Gandalf. All those larger-than-life scenes that screamed from the book “You can’t possibly film me!” – well, they are filmed, and they are jaw-dropping. Jackson unquestionably made the right decisions in zooming in on Frodo and the searing emotion packed into his quest during the final hours of this tale. The result is an ending that will hit you in the gut like a herd of Mûmakil (the gargantuan elephant-like creatures). And can you say, GLAD of no sanitized Hollywood ending? The conclusion is so right, and so beautiful, that all the tears are worth it.


A dangerous road ahead….i.e. spoilers full blast!

At this point in the films, the actors have ceased to be “the actors” and simply are the denizens of Middle Earth. Who could match Ian McKellen’s sheer magic as Gandalf, or Andy Serkis’s riveting evolution of Gollum? What may be the biggest surprise for moviegoers is Elijah Wood’s searing performance as Frodo in this final episode. While he shone in Fellowship, I didn’t feel that his acting legs were amply stretched in The Two Towers. With Return of the King, however, he breathes Frodo to life, giving each anguished, exquisite detail of the character a depth and profundity unmatched by anything before it.

Viggo Mortensen takes a more central role in this movie as Aragorn moves into his kingly role, a transition that is a bit rushed but remarkably believable, considering how low-key Aragorn has been up until this point. I thought some of the character and plot changes made in the different spokes of the story detracted from the integrity of the movie as a whole; most noticeably, tying Arwen’s life force to the fate of the ring. It’s plausible that she would be dying of a broken heart – with Elves this was not uncommon – and it’s also logical that her fate and that of Middle Earth and/or Aragorn are now linked, but that her mortality is directly dependant on whether the Ring is destroyed is far-fetched and rather out of the blue. Another story tampering that really, really bugged me was Frodo’s sudden transfer of trust from Sam to Gollum. Completely illogical! I will grant, though, it made for a very exciting and dramatic conclusion of Shelob’s lair and rescue of Frodo.

Speaking of which, the moment which countless fans have held their breath for – namely, Shelob – WOW!! I have a bit of reservation over the emotional impact of the scene – I thought it could have been lingered over a bit and let the realization of the moment sink in more – but from a moviegoer’s perspective, an absolutely chilling episode. The massive arachnoid was perfect, no visions of cheap horror flick monsters will even occur to you as you watch Frodo escape death at one turn, only to find it spring upon him as his goal seems closer than ever. I have similar feelings on the other HUGE moment in the movie – Eowyn versus the Witch King. Cinematographically, amazing; emotionally, something didn’t quite click for me. Perhaps with subsequent viewings, my perspective will change. I sure have had a complete change of heart about Faramir, who had a heart-breaking and faithful role in this movie; although the conclusion of these plot lines (I can’t bring myself to reveal it) is completely NOT FAIR! (No really, I’m okay.)

Some of the highlights of the movie for me included Minas Morgul, the infinitely eerie domain of the Witch King right before the stair to Cirith Ungol – talk about spooky; Theoden’s rallying of the Rohirrim before their desperate charge on the Pelennor Fields – his ceremonial striking of the spears along the line got a shiver from me; Aragorn’s thoroughly dramatic summons of the Dead Armies (some of the most impressive ghosts to hit the screens in recent years!); and Pippin’s song for the crazed Steward of Gondor as Faramir leads a suicidal charge. There are far too many “squee!!!” moments to name them all, or even remember them, and they are sure to vary from person to person. Plenty to go around!


Other Movie Goodness

Given the emotional foundation and complexity of the movie, the special effects have every right to be as eye-popping and vibrant as they are…you never have the feeling that they’re there to show off WETA’s technical brilliance. In fact, it’s all too easy to forget how the magic got there and be caught up in the spell of the gorgeous locales of New Zealand and the effortless blend of settings. Howard Shore’s score is of similar quality – you know it’s magnificent, but somehow it doesn’t occur to you as you’re watching just how much of a masterpiece it is; you simply accept it as part of the whole.

Editing wise, there are a few burbles at times, shots and splices that aren’t as finished as they could be; and the script suffers from the same problem occasionally, with dialogue that isn’t quite as polished as Tolkien’s original. Yet considering the sheer length of this movie, and the amount of material they had to work with, the overall smooth and extremely professional look and feel of Return of the King is amazing, a true pleasure to watch from beginning to end. This film plain works, but especially when seen in the context of the first two movies. Essentially, you’re either in this for the long haul or you’re not – but the story is not complete without viewing the entire thing.

The bottom line of Return of the King is – it’s not the definitive version of the story. Neither is the book, or any other past, present, or future medium of the story. The definitive version is in the imaginations of those who love this tale, and what is so beautiful about this movie is that it allows you to enjoy one interpretation of the story while also keeping your own envisionments of certain aspects that will never make it to the big screen. If you look at it from that perspective, that all of the elements in the movie, in the book, and in your mind as you’re going into the theater are compatible parts of an entire legend, you are bound to find yourself right at home in Return of the King’s Middle Earth.