The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Peter Jackson’s monstrous Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to a marvellous end with 2003’s The Return of the King. As has been broadly reported, the final film in the saga has become one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time. It also scooped all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, tying it with Ben Hur and Titanic for the most Academy Awards ever won by a single movie. Among the awards, The Return of the King won the Best Picture Oscar and marked the first time a fantasy film won the big prize.
There is again some shuffling of the deck from Jackson for storyline purposes. Events from the middle of The Two Towers book were moved to the film version of The Return of the King. The portion with Shelob, for instance, occurs at the end of The Two Towers book but Jackson has placed it pretty snugly near the middle portion of the film. In my opinion, this was done to further impress the notion of trust on Gollum and save the revelation of his true intentions for the conclusion of the second film. This allows more tension to build within the Frodo and Sam storyline, too, and toys with the weight of the Ring to further effect from a cinematic perspective.
With a world designed by former Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe, The Return of the King picks up where The Two Towers left off. We are granted some insight into Gollum (Andy Serkis) back when he was Sméagol. Sméagol murders his cousin Déagol for the One Ring and eventually falls into a lifetime of loneliness and despair, leading to his becoming the creature Gollum. Back in present time, Gollum is still taking Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) to Minas Morgul. As we learned at the conclusion of The Two Towers, however, Gollum’s motivations have become more clouded and he has foul intentions.
Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), Théoden (Bernard Hill), Pippin (Billy Boyd), and Éomer (Karl Urban) meet up to discuss that the threat of Saruman is over. In the Extended Edition, we get to see what happened to Saruman and are treated to a sequence that, in my opinion, really should have made the theatrical release. Nevertheless, the mysterious palantír is discovered and Pippin looks into it, revealing that Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith. He and Gandalf ride there to warn the massive city.
The pair arrives at Minas Tirith to find Denethor (John Noble) fallen into madness after the death of his son Boromir. He is unfit to lead the city in a defence of what is to come, so Gandalf and Pippin must find a way to rally the troops while Frodo and Sam continue to move closer to Mount Doom. The impending battle also leads Aragorn, Legloas, and Gimli to seek some unlikely assistance. Frodo and Sam continue to Mount Doom, only to find out that Gollum has tricked them into a rather sticky and alarming situation.
The Return of the King rumbles with the finality that a saga of this magnitude deserves. It is also entirely conclusive, offering up what was, to many, far too much conclusion. Indeed, much of the criticism of the film lay with the “long ending.” A re-watching of these scenes, especially in the context of seeing the other two movies in relatively short succession, adds more weight to them and they feel necessary. It is necessary to see Sam get back to his normal life in The Shire, for instance, and it is necessary to see Aragorn’s story conclude in spectacular fashion.
Jackson’s final film in the trilogy features three times as many effects shots as in Fellowship and double the effects shots as in The Two Towers. The battle at Minas Tirith is staggering in its scope, matching the intensity of Helm’s Deep and often exceeding it. My only gripe would be the Army of the Dead, as I think Tolkien’s original idea of using them to defeat the Corsairs was far superior to Jackson’s final conclusion. It seems to almost cheapen the battle and quicken its conclusion, which I wasn’t overly pleased with.
Nevertheless, oversimplification of the final battle aside, The Return of the King really is a masterful piece of work. The effects are brilliant and it is terrific to see this saga come to such a rousing and satisfying conclusion. The Howard Shore score once again adds depth and the brilliant work from Weta is seamless in digital effects. The Return of the King ends the tremendous accomplishment of Jackson and Co. on a high note, concluding the story in ultimately rewarding fashion.
Trailer:
