Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings is an astounding trilogy. Aesthetically, they're masterpieces, but they also suffer from being self-important. This aspect is best exhibited by their length: no one needs to see a 10 hour long epic about the Lord of the Rings, that's geekdom. I watched the film over three days, and that was thrilling enough. To be overly critical, the films also use the same rocky backdrops too often, and otherwise, the art is pretty damn good. THE RETURN OF THE KING is a pretty thrilling film. It mostly wraps up what has happened before, and allows for hero Frodo (Elijah Wood) to destroy the evil ring of Sauron. However, people are apparently so stupid, that it becomes very hard for mankind to rally against the advancing ork armies of Sauron. So, we get an hour of that building up, and then an extremely good payoff in one of the most satisfying action sequences ever filmed. I especially enjoyed the two hobbits who were goofballs in the earlier films. Here, they bring a needed pathos that isn't as maudelin or grandiose as the rest of the film. THE RETURN OF THE KING is an excellent action/adventure film, filled with great acting, shots, and pace. Despite this, it is still pretty overrated, but that shouldn't take away from how good it is regardless.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: ★★★1/2

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