Director:  Peter Jackson		Released:  December 2003
Writer:  Frances Walsh, from J.R.R. Tolkien's book		MPAA Rating:  PG-13
Players:  Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies		Running time:  251 minutes

The trilogy is complete.  Time to add it all up and see what we got.  And what we got is a set of beautiful looking films, with many scenes destined to become part of film history.  But ... they fall short of the greatness that was intended and expected of them.  What's missing from these films is heart.  Heart, and emotional weight.  Basically, these are straight-up adventure films, in some ways no more or less than an Indiana Jones movie.  Not once did I feel emotional about any of the characters or relationships.  Nor did I ever feel anyone was really in danger.  We know who the heroes are, therefore we know they will make it through whatever obstacle is in their path.  This trilogy is very scholarly in its presentation of middle earth, and is extremely well-crafted, but it just ain't got what it takes to be included with the most elite of pictures.

There's no doubt that these films will endure, they are watchable twenty times over.  Good adventure films are like that, because it's fun to watch battles and treks and ... well, adventure.

I enjoyed the opening sequence which shows the transformation of Smeagol to Gollum.  The sequence in which Aragorn heads into a mountain cave of evil to recruit a ghostly army is excellent too.  Also particularly enjoyed the subplot involving Denethor and his sons Faramir and Boromir.  These scenes are some of the best stuff in The Return of the King, I wish there had been more emphasis on those types of stories and less emphasis on battle scenes.  My usual complaint still stands, that the movie is slow at times and my interest wanes (even during events where I should be riveted).

When I trash movies like The Mummy Returns or Armageddon for having no brain nor story nor plot, Lord of the Rings is the answer to those criticisms.  Lord of the Rings is the best action/adventure film with a brain in a long while.  Too bad it didn't have the heart to match.

- crocoPuffs

Tweet

Share