thedrifter
01-02-04, 12:49 PM
Issue Date: January 05, 2004
Film Review: ‘Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,’ 4 stars
The best for last: Third in trilogy delivers with power and beauty
By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service
After seven years of production, three years of theatrical screenings and 9½ hours of running time, peace has been restored to Middle-earth. The concluding chapter of “The Lord of the Rings” is upon us.
And the incredibly high standard set by filmmaker Peter Jackson in “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001) and “The Two Towers” (2002) is maintained in “The Return of the King.”
In the final 3½-hour segment, the most unassuming of creatures — a hobbit — must return the bewitching, evil ring to its molten source and save the universe.
Taken together, the three “Lord of the Rings” films form a cohesive masterwork — an epic trilogy that long should stand as cinema’s definitive adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Now that the enormous enterprise has been so impressively completed, a best-picture Academy Award seems the only fair response. The Tolkien trilogy needed a filmmaker of Jackson’s endurance and passion to make its way to the screen.
Also essential were the myriad technological advances of the new millennium that enable us to see walking and talking trees, 10,000-strong armies and flying dragons the size of Lear jets.
Like part two, the third chapter hits the ground running. (It makes no sense to watch “The Return of the King” if you haven’t seen the first two films. Why would you want to?)
The dark, zombielike army of Saruman (Christopher Lee), which was defeated at Helm’s Deep at the end of “The Two Towers,” is reforming for an even more horrific battle at the white-towered city of Minas Tirith. The heroic Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and wise Gandalf (Ian McKellen) prepare the undermanned forces of good to make a stand. They know they must hold out long enough to distract the evil forces from finding and stopping Frodo the hobbit (Elijah Wood) from his all-important mission.
In the central odyssey of the saga, Frodo is carrying a ring whose seductive powers can destroy all living things. He must take it to the volcanic Mount Doom where it was forged. Only by throwing the ring into the same fires can it be destroyed. Traveling with Frodo is his amiable, workhorse hobbit friend, Sam (Sean Astin), and the strange, misshapen Gollum (Andy Serkis, wondrously altered by computer-generated special effects).
A former hobbitlike creature, Gollum has been turned grotesque by his lust for the ring. He’s an essential guide for Frodo across the rugged landscape, but he’s not to be trusted, as his dark, dual personality attests. (In a flashback, which opens “The Return of the King,” we witness Gollum’s previous life and the murderous act that turned him into Gollum. It’s a nice bit of storytelling, as well as a rare opportunity to see the talented Serkis at work without the weird manipulations of special effects.)
“The Return of the King” features the qualities we’ve come to expect after the first two films — riveting battle sequences influenced by the samurai epics of Akira Kurosawa, believably rendered elves, dwarves and other creatures of fantasy and surprising clarity.
More important, Jackson underscores deep emotional aspects of the story, as well as Tolkien’s struggle to create a mythic metaphor for man’s search for sanity in the wake of World War II. “The Lord of the Rings” may sing the praises of kings and wizards, but it champions the courage, brotherhood and dignity of the common man (even if he is a hobbit).
“Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is rated PG-13 for strong battle violence.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2500973.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Film Review: ‘Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,’ 4 stars
The best for last: Third in trilogy delivers with power and beauty
By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service
After seven years of production, three years of theatrical screenings and 9½ hours of running time, peace has been restored to Middle-earth. The concluding chapter of “The Lord of the Rings” is upon us.
And the incredibly high standard set by filmmaker Peter Jackson in “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001) and “The Two Towers” (2002) is maintained in “The Return of the King.”
In the final 3½-hour segment, the most unassuming of creatures — a hobbit — must return the bewitching, evil ring to its molten source and save the universe.
Taken together, the three “Lord of the Rings” films form a cohesive masterwork — an epic trilogy that long should stand as cinema’s definitive adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Now that the enormous enterprise has been so impressively completed, a best-picture Academy Award seems the only fair response. The Tolkien trilogy needed a filmmaker of Jackson’s endurance and passion to make its way to the screen.
Also essential were the myriad technological advances of the new millennium that enable us to see walking and talking trees, 10,000-strong armies and flying dragons the size of Lear jets.
Like part two, the third chapter hits the ground running. (It makes no sense to watch “The Return of the King” if you haven’t seen the first two films. Why would you want to?)
The dark, zombielike army of Saruman (Christopher Lee), which was defeated at Helm’s Deep at the end of “The Two Towers,” is reforming for an even more horrific battle at the white-towered city of Minas Tirith. The heroic Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and wise Gandalf (Ian McKellen) prepare the undermanned forces of good to make a stand. They know they must hold out long enough to distract the evil forces from finding and stopping Frodo the hobbit (Elijah Wood) from his all-important mission.
In the central odyssey of the saga, Frodo is carrying a ring whose seductive powers can destroy all living things. He must take it to the volcanic Mount Doom where it was forged. Only by throwing the ring into the same fires can it be destroyed. Traveling with Frodo is his amiable, workhorse hobbit friend, Sam (Sean Astin), and the strange, misshapen Gollum (Andy Serkis, wondrously altered by computer-generated special effects).
A former hobbitlike creature, Gollum has been turned grotesque by his lust for the ring. He’s an essential guide for Frodo across the rugged landscape, but he’s not to be trusted, as his dark, dual personality attests. (In a flashback, which opens “The Return of the King,” we witness Gollum’s previous life and the murderous act that turned him into Gollum. It’s a nice bit of storytelling, as well as a rare opportunity to see the talented Serkis at work without the weird manipulations of special effects.)
“The Return of the King” features the qualities we’ve come to expect after the first two films — riveting battle sequences influenced by the samurai epics of Akira Kurosawa, believably rendered elves, dwarves and other creatures of fantasy and surprising clarity.
More important, Jackson underscores deep emotional aspects of the story, as well as Tolkien’s struggle to create a mythic metaphor for man’s search for sanity in the wake of World War II. “The Lord of the Rings” may sing the praises of kings and wizards, but it champions the courage, brotherhood and dignity of the common man (even if he is a hobbit).
“Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is rated PG-13 for strong battle violence.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2500973.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: