A great film, but something is not quite right

Rating: 9/10 (5 August 2004)

The final episode of Peter Jackson's telling of the JRR Tolkien classic comes to screen.
Return of the King is the big wrap-up to this landmark project. The filmmakers have done an excellent job bringing this "unfilmable" project to screen. As always, they deserve kudos for such a beautifully crafter work. From the set designs to the costumes to the scenery, the CGI, special effects, sound, all of these elements are Oscar-worthy and far surpass anything ever shown on screen.
The performances, too, are stellar. Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and Andy Serkis are all excellent. Even the supporting cast gives it their all. It is a shame Christopher Lee didn't make the final cut, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
Even with all these kudos, this film still has problems.
The sequence with the Palantir in Edoras is very silly, I have heard others call it the "Glowing Bowling Ball of Doom". Rather sloppy for the quality the filmmakers have shown to date. And the ghost army is way too ... phosphorous and Disney-like.
But beyond various technical flaws, the real problem is both the rush to the ending, and the drawn-out portion after the ending. For the former, we have the tense lead-up to the great Battle of the Pellenor Fields, which by itself is unlike anything ever put on film before. We have Frodo and Sam facing great dangers all by themselves. Then, suddenly, Frodo and Sam are back on track, the battle is over, and we rush right along to the climax of the film. That whole portion is simply rushed right along.
So then we have the Big Finale ... and fifteen more minutes of movie (at least). Depending on how you count, there are five or six endings of the film. Here, unlike anywhere else, the writers have actually been too faithful to JRR Tolkien. His books also end (or not) in this fashion, and that is acceptable in a book, but not in a movie. The multiple endings simply drag us along to collapse. PJ should have kept some of that footage for a future DVD release.
Even with these flaws, I have a hard time grading this movie poorly. I am, after all, a huge fan of LOTR and PJ. So I am cutting him some slack, and give the film 9 out of 10.