Three years and over
a billion dollars later, "Lord of the Rings" has
become one of the top three franchises in film history,
just behind "Star Wars" and the James Bond
series. For three Decembers in a row, we have all
bore the unspeakable lines, the onclave of theatrical
advertisements and trailers, and the three hours plus
running times for each film. Now, "Lord of the
Rings" is over, with "The Return of the
King" serving as the final installment to the series.
And what has LOTR shown us? Well, other than being
one of the most memorable trilogies of all time, it has
shown how one director and one perfectly assembled cast
can turn a beloved book into life, one hobbit at a time.
In this chapter, we see hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and
Sam (Sean Astin) struggling their way towards Mount Doom,
alongside the computer generated creature Golem (Andy
Serkis). We also find the remainder of the original
Fellowship -- Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando
Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) -- trying to find a way
to defeat the impending armies of Orakai headed their way.
Pip (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) re-discover
Gandolf (Sir Ian McKellen), Arwen (Liv Tyler) starts to
die off, and an army of the dead is summoned to fight for Middle
Earth. Now, much more happens in the three hours
plus of the film, and most of the ongoing storylines are
resolved.
Some noteworthy sidenotes
about this film are, as follows:
(1) Sean Astin takes on much more of a weighty role.
If you take time to think about it, Sean Astin is,
basically, the star of this chapter, and possibly the
focal point of the entire trilogy. He handles this
increase in screen time with admirable acting power and
delivers the best role of his career, and that is
including "The Goonies" and "Rudy".
(2) Some things happen in the film, seemingly out of
nowhere, that will make sense to the LOTR fanatics, but
will probably confuse many of the regular movie goers.
For instance, SPOILER, towards the end of the film, we see
Gandolf and a fluttering moth, followed by enormous eagles
swooping down from the sky. And, the ending left
many people confused as to just what had happened, and all
I can say as comfort is that you should read the books.
(3) Beautiful cinematography. There is one scene in
which the armies of Middle Earth are charging towards the
enemies on horseback and seem to just wipe them out -- go
completely through them. Watching it on screen was
absolutely dazzling and should be excuse enough for this
film to, once again, sweep the technical side of the
Academy Awards.
Peter Jackson has placed a marvelous cap on this series,
and has now fully established himself as, possibly, the
most sought after, respected, and powerful directors in
Hollywood today. His vision and determination are
the reasons for the success of these films, and his
creativity is endless. Just look at the way he
brilliantly concludes the film -- the film does not end
until around half an hour after the primary resolution has
come about. That is daring, yet brilliant at the
same time. If you end the film too quickly, the
critics eat your brains. Draw it out just a bit, and
you win the respect of the LOTR fanatics and the critics.
Do I believe "The Return of the King" will win
Best Picture? No. Do I think it should?
No. I have seen too many other phenomenal motion
pictures this year that best this one. "Mystic
River" is a good example, as is "Shattered
Glass" and "Master and Commander".
But, I would go out on a limb and say Sean Astin and Viggo
Mortensen might find themselves acting nods. This is
a fitting and glorious conclusion to the series and it is
highly entertaining, as always. I cannot say this is
the best in the series, because now I consider them to be
three as a whole. And, as a whole, the word flawless
creeps to mind.
