Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) by Swati — 04 Dec 2013

For Jackson to shoot The Lord of the Rings with a local crew in New Zealand, a country at the edge of the world with little stake in its doings, is a marvel which may only be repeated by Jackson himself. Apart from the international cast, the people who were actually working to bring us the trilogy, like special effects, were Kiwis. The majority of this credit must go to Jackson for his leadership and vision, and for succeeding in hiring an able team.

The Return of the King is the concluding chapter in the trilogy. The story is picked up where it was left off at the end of The Two Towers. We are shown a glimpse into Gollum's past. The rest of the fellowship reunite at Isengard. Saruman's fate is omitted from the theatrical edition, which I always found odd given his importance in the previous instalment.

It is a time for festivities in Rohan in the wake of the victory at Helm's Deep. An accident shows us Sauron's plans for Minas Tirith, the legendary capital of Gondor. The fellowship breaks again in a different way. Gandalf rides to the city to find the steward reluctant to lift even a finger for its defence. Needless to say, things work out and Rohirrim ride for Gondor's aid. Faramir, dejected by his father, rides out in a last ditched effort to reclaim Osgiliath.

A family heirloom is returned to Aragorn which he uses to find help in the most unexpected places. Another plot device if you ask me. If you keep an eye out for them, they become very obvious. Jackson could have lessened its impact or omitted it entirely, making sure the battle was won through the prowess of battle commanders, which he failed to do so. As Fellowship never purported to show us a huge battle at all, and did not have to resolve it, I will forever hold it in higher regard than Return. The Two Towers resolved its battle much more satisfactorily, but Return has got much more on the former in other areas, so the second place goes to the latter.

Orcs begin the attack on the city. Gandalf leads the defence. The battle looks grander than the one at Helm's Deep, the besieging armies and weapons more awe-inspiring. The special effects used to bring this conflict to life were stunning_ showing the destruction of architecture by the catapults and the loss of men and Orcs; as well as bringing to life Shelob, the giant spider. The scene of the Rohirrim cutting through the Orcs on their horses is possibly the most spectacular. Oliphaunts and Nazguls join the fight.

My previous apathy for Eowyn is cured after watching the extended version, in which she develops significantly. In fact, she is the only female character in Middle Earth who is of some worth, and I like where her story took us, climaxing in a very satisfactory way in the middle of a battle, pitted against only the most important antagonists.

The main trio_ Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, are absent from much of the fighting, as the other two accompany the former on his journey of self-discovery. I was earnestly hoping for them to join the fight, which they did (Legolas displaying some very impressive killer moves), but it was so ridiculously short. Four minutes. Believe me, I counted. In this regard The Two Towers was much better, as well as having more memorable scenes with the Gollum.

Frodo's inevitable clash with Gollum goes full circle. Sam displays unprecedented strength of character and resolve, and the Hobbits thrive without much help from men. Men ride once more to aid Frodo in his quest to rid them of the ring, and a final battle sequence follows, after which it is destroyed. In epilogue, we learn about the fates of the Hobbits, Aragorn and Gandalf.

The extended edition had some interesting scenes which enriched the characters and the story, but also some which betrayed some ineptitude at editing. One scene had a character utter the exact same dialogue to persuade someone in the span of a single conversation. Surely a rewording would have been more effective. I scoffed at a particular attempt to blossom an affair between two secondary characters. Such things should have been hinted at in the epilogue. No one is interested in that stuff when the stakes involve the end of the world.

Finally, a discussion about the extraordinary tally at the Oscars. Eleven well-deserved wins out of as many nominations, in fields as diverse as art direction, costume design, make-up, sound, original score, original song, editing, visual effects, adapted screenplay, directing, and Best Picture.

In the end I would observe that the extended editions of the first and second instalments, three hours twenty and three hours thirty-three minutes respectively, enhanced the tales while the third one, a crushing four hours, did not achieve anything of worth.