We're off to see the Wizard (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2004)

"Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is undoubtedly a masterpiece of motion picture wizardry. (I use the term purposely.) It is a stunning technical achievement in its creation of a medieval world with its characteristic armor and architecture, as well as a daunting physical landscape.
However, a little technology goes a long way. I frequently felt as if I would be needing a dose of Gravol by the time the film ended, with all the dizzying, plunging overhead shots. At first, they overwhelmed me. At the film went on, however, I found them repetitive and annoying. At such moments, Peter Jackson seemed less like a wizard than the sorcerer's apprentice.
Apart from the technical side of things, the characters of LOTR: ROTK appear to be made out of cardboard, the dialogue sounds corny (quite an achievement for a film based on Tolkien) and I really didn't give a rat's ass about the outcome. To be quite honest, the only really interesting figure in all of this was Smegol/Gollum.
I couldn't help feeling that Peter Jackson must have seen "The Wizard of Oz" as a child and been influenced by it, subconsciously or otherwise. When Frodo Baggins takes leave of Sam, Merry and Pippin at the end of their adventures, it is hard not to be reminded of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion (with Gandalf standing in for Glinda). And in an earlier scene, when Frodo is lying in bed recovering and all his friends come in (those just mentioned, plus Aragorn and Legolas), it is again reminiscent of the scene where Dorothy regains consciousness back in her Kansas farmhouse. All that was missing was Toto and the sepia color of the film. There were other possible clins d'oeil, too. The flying pterodactyls (or whatever they were) certainly called to mind the Winged Monkeys of Nikko. And aerial shots of the city under siege looked a lot like the Wicked Witch's castle. Perhaps "Dark Side of the Moon" would work as a score for LOTR: ROTK as well. Who knows?
Anyway, the trilogy has thankfully come to an end. Now it's time to kick the Hobbit.