Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) by Derek D — 27 Jun 2016

Upon the last entry in my journey of reliving TOTR, I actually found myself feeling the myriad of emotions that I felt as a youngin' walking into my home town movie theater almost ten years ago. Even though I had seen these movies before, I felt like I had once again gone on the epic journey with Frodo and the rest of the fellowship. And the end both brought excitement and a heavy longing to my heart.

First things first - I can now say with hindsight that The Two Towers is the slump of the trilogy. And that's not to say it's anywhere near a bad film - it just feels like the slowest and least exciting in comparison. When I first saw these films I had become fatigued by the end of Return of the King, but upon this viewing, it actually invigorated me with energy (and that's including an extra 30 minutes of the extended scenes)!

Mary and Pippen have so much more to do and so much more development in this one. And it brings a further depth to the ensemble of characters. Frodo coming to the last torturous moments of his journey really amp up the suspense and emotional level of his and Sam's trek. And the gigantic battle in Gondor is handled with better pacing and more exciting spectacles in my honest opinion. There is an over all feeling of less meandering as everything builds up and finally falls to a close.

I laughed, I grew silent with sadness, I jokingly made fun of the "multiple endings" - I did and felt it all while watching this. And not for one moment did I get bored or lose interest. Throughout the 4 hours I was filled with complete cinematic and fantasy joy.

And so, as Aragorn was crowned and spoke his final lines to the Hobbits I was filled with an extra ounce of happiness - because these films, do indeed, bow to no one.