Flawed, but undeniably brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2003)

I saw The Return of the King last night and when it had ended my initial feelings were one of disappointment, especially since people had been labelling it one of the greatest films of all time. This, I'm afraid, it is not. It certainly IS the most complete film of the three pictures and features some of the finest acting, most spectacular scenery (I'm referring to the awesome beacon lighting sequence etc), some truly breathtaking action sequences (the attack of the Army of the Dead) and includes some of the scariest moments of the trilogy. The stand out performance for me was undoubtedly Sean Astin's, and his performance is so brave, heroic and genuinely touching that he almost steals the film from the true king, Aragorn - Viggo Mortensen excellent as ever. But whilst this film is one that will go down in history as one of the great epics, it still has its flaws. Firstly, there is no recognisable, tangible face to the 'baddie'. Sure, we have the ever watchful eye of Sauron, but its just a big eye for godsakes. I wish he could have taken the form of the figure we see in the first five minutes of Fellowship during that final battle. Denethor is the only character that is a notable bad figure and he is on the GOOD side. Indeed, Saruman is sorely missed but hopefully his scenes will be reinstated in the EE. Secondly, the film is too long at 3h12m. I felt the ending would have had more impact were it to end with the coronation of Aragorn. The stuff with the Shire at the end could have been left to the imagination. Overall, however, this is a film that simply demands repeat viewings - it is impossible to take it all in first time round. A fantastic, towering achievement that leaves you gasping for breath, it rounds off the greatest trilogy ever to grace celluloid . If this doesnt win Best Picture at the Oscars next year, I will never be able to take the Academy seriously again. 10 out of 10