Great visuals, not so great storytelling...

Rating: 5/10 (30 January 2005)

Return of the King - Special Extended Edition.
While normally a person to find enjoyment in both fantasy and science-fiction, I am one of the few who haven't really enjoyed Jackson's earlier takes on the Tolkien masterpiece I had less than stellar expectations.
The film however did kick off on a promising note and for the first hour or so I was having a pretty decent time. After a while though my mind started to wander and after another hour I couldn't really care less about what happened to the characters.
What is it that makes me so indifferent to these characters? I believe the whole thing boils down to Jackson's storytelling. At his best when he can wield his mighty camera over vast landscapes, showing off weird and wonderful creatures and humongous armies. He seems a lot less comfortable when dealing with human (hobbit, dwarfish, elfish) interaction on a smaller level. Unfortunately this somewhat spills over too the battle-scenes as well, and any enjoyment is purely on the visual side. Yes, the spectacle is certainly great - but it is still JUST spectacle.
Another problem is that the actors are for the most part delivering speeches rather than having conversations. It makes the whole thing stale and the characters less life-like.
On a positive note Jackson and his editors have improved the flow between the different story lines since the last film. The effects are mostly top-notch as is the production-design.
Unfortunately it is let down by a director who seems to be bellowing, "look what I can do" to at all times. This "more is more"-style served him well in his earlier work but it's just a bit too shallow to do a justice to a story of this scale.
All in all not horrible, but certainly not the film to end all films...
5/10