Purely Stunning

Rating: 10/10 (14 December 2003)

This review is virtually spoiler-free.
So is it any good? Is the conclusion that we Tolkien fans have been waiting so many long years for worth the blood, sweat, time, and tears it took to manufacture? Definitely! I should qualify this by saying that I loved Fellowship of the Ring dearly, but Two Towers left me more than a bit miffed at the changes. While Return of the King has changes (only 2 really notable ones--neither at all anything worth seriously whining about) to the text, what its only true downfall is are the exclusions. There are several moments in the film where you feel that there used to be a scene there. Not just because, if you know the story, you know what's supposed to happen where, but more like edits that needed just a few days more time to make perfect. This will keep the film from winning best picture (it will get nominated), though I'm fairly confident in saying that the film will get Jackson his much deserved Best Director Oscar. This will also make the Extended Edition easily the best of the three. You really do get a ton of story even if so much is clipped out. As expected, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is utterly brutal and gruesome and sad and heroic and amazing--much more so than the Battle of Helm's Deep. Each battle really has their own place being a great action sequence, however. Helm's Deep had a feeling in it all like they would eventually win and it was fun watching our heroes kick hard and take names. Pelennor has a feeling of utter despair.
The acting, as always, is spot on with special note again to Sir Ian McKellen for truly being the Gandalf we all know from the books. Fans of the books and films alike will be glad to know that the White Wizard really gets into the thick of battle in this one. He also looks great doing it. Aragorn finally gets to show off some of his heretige, and Viggo Mortensen acts it marvelously. Also coming into their own are Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan. Merry and Pippin truly get their chance to shine in this film (as in the book), and show true courage and spirit. And then there's Elijah Wood's Frodo, Sean Astin's Samwise, and Andy Serkis' Smeagol. Andy actually has the oppurtunity to be himself without the effects as just Smeagol for the first ten minutes or so of the film, showing his downfall and enslavement to the Ring's power, and just like before, his Gollum is cruel in all the right ways. Elijah Wood seems, as usual, to have been born for this role. As Frodo quests the long dark of Torech Ungol and across the Plains of Gorgoroth in Mordor, you really do sense that he's just exhausted--you truly feel that his body will give away at any moment. For the short time he is without his shirt in one scene, check out the scars around his neck where the ring has been hanging. Frodo is a truly powerful role and Elijah fits the bill perfectly. I have mixed, though honest, feelings in saying that I believe that this will be the role he will always be remembered for.
And then there's Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee. If anyone in this movie is going to get nominated for anything, it will be him. No question about it. What you see him go through is truly painful and heartwrenching, and Astin keeps every line in check and every emotion exact. His role is so shockingly powerful that it is hard to describe. Those that have read the book will be glad to know that (my personal favorite chapter) the Choices of Samwise is just as powerful a moment in the movie as it was in the book. I could frankly go on and on about his performance, but really it is simply utterly perfect. As to my own reaction to the film, I thought the first hour was just a touch weak (Towers' theatrical cut has the same problem for me), but once it clicks, it clicks hard and has an emotional resonance that is simply undeniable. The film has the feeling to me of being just a tiny bit inferior to Fellowship's theatrical cut, and far better than Towers'. I knew how the story went before I walked in, so I made sure to bring quite a few tissues. I'm not afraid to admit that as a stoic male in an age where showing one's emotions is almost cardinal sin, I cried. I cried hard. I cried out of joy, I cried out of sadness, I cried for every reason worth crying for, and I honestly can't think of a better story to have let loose this way for. Also, what you've probably read by now is completely true, the movie ends several times, but each is pure magic.
Looking back, it really is hard to believe the story is over now. Just like reading the book, when it was over I really didn't want it to end. I wanted something, anything, another chapter, another fifteen minutes to spend with these characters and in this world. But "The End" does finally appear, and the last chapter in the book does come to a close. And just like the book, the movie ends appropriately though not quite how you want it to. You really do feel that the story is finished, and when it is all over you can wipe away the tears and think back fondly on a story told that was certainly worth telling.
Like so many others, I truly cannot wait to see it again.