The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Review by Thom (4.5 Stars)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Review by Thom (4.5 Stars) | MatchFlick

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Movie Details

All Movie Info

Starring:
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Bernard Hill, Brad Dourif, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Peter Jackson

Directed By:
Peter Jackson

Written By:
J.R.R. Tolkien, Fran Walsh

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

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Movie Review by Thom
May 5th, 2008

One Film to Finish It All

Favorite Movie Quote: "I go now to the hall of my forbears in who's company I shall no longer feel ashamed."

While I was happy to see the creators of The Lord of the Rings trilogy receive statuette after statuette on Oscar night, it was blunted by the fact that I felt Return of the King was getting awards for three films, especially since Fellowship was the strongest contender as a stand alone film. Return of the King was a fine film, but the more important plot points are overshadowed by a brilliant spectacle of a battle which owes its most dramatic moment to the death of a tertiary character; after the Battle of Pelinore Fields the film is more than a little anti-climactic.

As the third and final installment of the Rings trilogy, Return of the King picks up right where Two Towers left off. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are methodically plodding towards Mount Doom to destroy the one ring with slimy Gollum (Andy Serkis) in tow while Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Legolas (Olando Bloom), Gandalf (Ian McKellan), Eomer (Karl Urban), and King Theodan (Bernard Hill) head over to Isengaard to gloat over the vanquished Saruman (Christopher Lee). We are shortly introduced to Boromir's pop Denethor (Shakespearean John Noble) as the war heads east towards Mordor and the nervous ever-watching Eye.

Beyond the CG spectacle that is the Battle of Pelinore Fields (sans jokes and cuts to stupid ents from Two Towers), Sean Astin is the show-stealer of Return of the King, with nods to both Bernard Hill and Miranda Otto (as Eowyn). Astin completes Sam's arc as he both figuratively and literally carries Frodo across the finish line while suffering abuse from Gollum and a ring-sick Frodo. Astin repeatly is required to plumb the depths of human emotion and comes up with gem after gem.

I have few criticisms of Return of the King beyond what I already mentioned, but the ending(s) went on perhaps a little longer than was necessary and I laugh my nuts off every time I see Denethor do the two-hundred-yard sprint to the edge of the cliff just to hurl himself off. Stop, drop, and roll if you've that much energy left, or, run to a water fountain maybe.

Return of the King probably didn't deserve to win the Oscar for best picture, but I do agree that it had to win something for the overall unparalleled achievement that The Lord of the Rings entailed. As a filmmaker, there are few achievements that I question whether they are beyond my ability to accomplish; The Lord of the Rings trilogy is certainly one of them.

Thank you, Peter Jackson, and all the other artists that brought about a film milestone that will live as a part of me for the rest of my life.

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