Solid End To A Fantastic Trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2016)

**This review is for the 201-minute theatrical version.**
"The Return Of The King" seems to divide audiences. There are those who love it, and those who really, really love it.
I'm in the former camp. While I share the overall satisfaction with the way Peter Jackson wound up his epic adaptation of the J. R. R. Tolkien saga, I do find myself squirming a little more while sitting through this three-hour-plus entertainment than I did with the prior installments.
After opening with a flashback on the origins of Gollum (Andy Serkis), we join the war for Middle Earth in a new phase, as the evil armies of Sauron move on the city of Minas Tirith. The surviving members of the Fellowship from the last two films have a two-fold mission: Save Minas Tirith, and buy time for their comrades Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) to get to Mordor and destroy the Ring that lies at the heart of Sauron's plans.
"Things are now in motion that cannot be undone," warns the Fellowship's leader, Gandalf (Ian McKellen).
The third time is seldom the charm for great franchises: Godfather; Star Wars; Matrix; heck, I didn't even like "Goldfinger" that much. Here, Jackson seems to finally get caught up in the snares of backstory he so deftly danced through in the first two films. But it's hardly a fatal flaw, and what's good-to-great here outweighs the rest.
The storytelling is as immersive here as it was in the last two chapters. In terms of raw narrative flow, "Two Towers" was the best, but this is nearly as good. I love how effortlessly we are moved back and forth from the three major story arcs; something George Lucas in my opinion did not do nearly half as well in "Return Of The Jedi." There's plenty of humor and action, and precious little elves, all of which pleased me.
The acting here is fine, too; this time more from the second-tier players who carry more of the burden with ability. Serkis sells you on Gollum's evilness even as he works your sympathies. David Wenham's Faramir and Miranda Otto's Éowyn dominate their scenes with a quiet authority that lingers after the film is over. Apparently their characters pair up in the extended cut; I'd happily sit through more of this film if it meant seeing more of them.
The film does feel more CGI-driven than the others, and much more emotionally self-indulgent. The final 20 minutes are an endurance test for me; swelling music and slow-mo shots of various characters crying and hugging. The rest of the movie has moments, and at times, entire scenes, that run longer than necessary. The Minas Tirith battle is a high point here; but however well-crafted and imaginatively engineered, it plays for me like a lesser remake of the Helm's Deep battle we got in "Two Towers."
I'm done carping. In the main, this is a fine film that grabs you and rewards you for time spent watching the other films. Even if it's not the film from the series I'd most happily watch again, I'm glad it won a Best Picture Oscar in recognition of the Lord Of The Rings series. Jackson gave us quite a ride, and here brings us a satisfying way of celebrating "the end of all things."