Jackson triumphant in wrestling with Epic.

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2003)

The only niggling criticisms I have of this wonderful film are Peter Jackson's choices in the pace of the movie. There are simply so many episodes to include in RotK. Firstly, the director is shackled by the books descriptions of Frodo's journey into Mordor, with all of its necessarily repetitive passages in conveying both his increasing despair and the grim monotony of the landscape. In a sense the moving picture is more of a blunt instrument when dealing with the passage of time. Whereas the Two Towers book could convey easily Treebeard's deliberations and general sluggishness, the filmmaker has to actually depict it, without bringing on boredom in the viewer. (I'm not sure he managed it with the yawn inspiring Treebeard) In RotK, Jackson is also saddled with following the book's touching but long winded denouement.
*SPOILERS* Given the sheer volume of events in the third film, the decision to move the whole Shelob episode into RotK now looks flawed. But the real problems with prioritising arrive when Jackson shows his form by focusing far too much on the Aragorn's recruitment of the dead. This whole sequence in the mountain looks more Temple of Doom than Tolkein. It smacks of popcorn horror, Ironically, Jackson then has to rush the Dead Army's battle scene later on. Their assault on Minas Tirith played out like a domestic bleach commercial, with a green torrent flushing out the porcelain walls of the citadel in all of 15 seconds.
The acting standard varies a fair bit, but is generally very good. Particularly impressive are McKellan Boyd, and Bloom once again. Hill comes into his own after a slightly whiney TT offering. The American actors just about master the British accent but only manage it by tiptoeing around their lines and thus losing much of their urgency, Sean Astin's engaging performance excepted. Viggo Mortensen just about gets away with it with his sheer cinema presence. He looks like Aragorn even if he doesn't really sound like him. The one dimensional Elijah Wood is simply bound by the material Tolkein gives him to work with. I also have no idea why Jackson' risked dragging the breathtaking Pelennor fields battle scenes into farce by inventing the ludicrous looking Orc Leader. His facial features stray into pantomime territory and the sniggers in the audience where all too obvious whenever he appeared on screen. He appeared at odds completely with the look and feel of the whole trilogy.
Jackson's also seemed influenced by the popular reaction to Legolas' wonderfully subtle and brief horse manoeuvre in Two Towers. The CG creaks away a la Spider-man in his Mumakil scene here in RotK. Otherwise the CG stuff is all superb, particularly in long shot. The realization of Minas Tirith, which presumably relies on both miniatures and CG is absolutely fabulous and deserves awards and an extended edition documentary all of its own. It's probably the best artificial creation of a city so far in cinema history. It certainly puts three hut Edoras to shame. Otherwise, Jackson's preoccupation with those 1970's calendar drawings of Howe and Lee etc can be a little hit or miss. It sometimes gives the photography a slightly progressive rock band album cover feel. Although, Minas Morgul switched genres and looked uncannily like a Cure Concert set. Although they redeem themselves completely for the wonderful Minas Tirith, Barad Dur and the Black Gate set amongst others. Overall, 9/10. The gripes are just drowned out by the sheer awe and delight of the whole piece. Films like this come along very very rarely. I doubt whether anyone will need to attempt a live action LotR again, ever.