Worthy of the King *SPOILERS*

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2003)

I am fresh back from ROTK and still on sensory overload. I have to start with a small disclaimer. Seated next to my husband and I were 2 teenage boys with severe ADD and were quite rude, and distracted my concentration on the film quite a bit during the emotional scenes with there snide comments and sounds. It annoyed me to the point of compromising some of my enjoyment of the film. I suppose that is the price of seeing a film on opening night.
First off, I did LOVE the film. It is a fine achievement for PJ and a fine conclusion to some of the best film making witnessed in the history of filmmaking. There were moments of sheer tension, terror, joy and love unparalleled by any film of its genre and most movies period.
I was so impressed with the opening with Smeagol, the battle of PF, the Paths of the Dead, Shelob as well a the destruction of the ring sequence. It took a while to get cranking to high-end drama but there was never a boring moment. Elijah Wood and Sean Astin were AMAZING and deserve Oscar nods. I also was moved by Billy Boyd's performance and Pippin's song. Dom Monaghan was also rock solid. Gollum was technically uncompromised and perfect. Ian's Gandalf also took center stage and dazzled.
My problems are mostly with the editing as I felt the pacing was off in some of the committed high points of the book such as the fall of Sauron and the Ascension of Aragorn. These I felt could have been tightened up and capitalized on more. I know I sound whiny by complaining that some of the emotional highs of the trailer went missing in the movie. While I did not miss Saruman's end as some did, I missed the Houses of the Healing and I felt the presentation of the Sword of the King was a weak spot. It seemed at point you could feel PJs frustration with having to edit the film down for run time in some abrupt cuts and scenes. Viggo REALLY need more airtime he almost got relegated to a supporting role, and the end, end, end was a bit drawn out. I was disappointed that PJ chose to alter the casting of the ring into the fire. He should have left that alone. I fully expected to cry my face off but didn't. I still don't know if the chatty idiots sitting next to me were partially responsible for that. A lot of others in the theater cried like babies for the last hour and I was jealous. I wanted to cry, and be moved by ROTK like that. I fully intend to see it again when the crowds die down and I can see it in a quieter setting and hope that it will strike me the way it should.
Folks cheered and laughed and bawled and clapped and hooted and hollered all the way through, no other film that I have seen in the theater has evoked that kind of crowd response and emotion. People clapped wildly at the end. It was kind of beautiful.
All I can say is I cannot WAIT for the Extended version. PJ could make it 6 hours and I wouldn't blink. Overall it was mostly freakin' fantastic.